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STORIES OF 
CLASSIC MYTHS 


HISTORICAL STORIES 

OF THE ANCIENT WORLD AND 
THE MIDDLE AGES 

RETOLD FROM 

ST. NICHOLAS MAGAZINE 

IN SIX VOLUMES 

STORIES OF THE ANCIENT WORLD 

The beginnings of history: Egypt, Assyria, 
and the Holy Land. 

STORIES OF CLASSIC MYTHS 

Tales of the old gods, goddesses, and heroes. 

STORIES OF GREECE AND ROME 

Life in the times of Diogenes and of the 
Caesars. 

STORIES OF THE MIDDLE AGES 

History and biography, showing the manners 
and customs of medieval times. 

STORIES OF CHIVALRY 

Stirring tales of ‘‘the days when knights 
were bold and ladies fair.” 

STORIES OF ROYAL CHILDREN 

Intimate sketches of the boyhood and girl- 
hood of many famous rulers. 


Each about 200 pages. 50 illustrations. 
Full cloth, 12mo. 


THE CENTURY CO. 


STORIES OF 
CLASSIC MYTHS 

RETOLD FROM ST. NICHOLAS 



NEW YORK 
THE CENTURY CO. 
1909 



Copyright, 1882, 1884, 1890, 1895, 
1896, 1904, 1906, 1909, by 
The Century Co. 



< ( 

< i c 



the devinne press 



CONTENTS 


Jason and Medea Frontispiece 


The Story of the Golden Fleece 

PAGE 

Andrew Lang 3 

The Labors of Hercules . 

... C . L . B . ^ I 

The Boys at Chiron’s School . . 

. . Evelyn Muller 69 

The Daughters of Zeus .... 

. D . 0 . S . Lowell 75 

The Story of Narcissus .... 

. Anna M . Pratt 91 

The Story of Perseus 

Mary A . Robinson 96 

King Midas 

Celia Thaxter \ 04 

The Story of Pegasus .... 

. M . C . 1 1 3 

Some Mythological Horses . . 

. James Baldwin 1 1 9 

Phaeton 


The Crane’s Gratitude .... 

Mary E . Mitchell 140 

D^dalus and Icarus 



Classic Myths 


C . L . B . 157 



PREFACE 


Myths are the stories of the old heathen gods 
and heroes. 

Nobody to-day believes in these deities of class- 
ical mythology. Yet every one, to have an ordi- 
nary education, must learn about them. 

Why is it, when there are so many other things 
to know and to learn, that it is necessary for us 
all to study this old dead religion? 

It is because these old stories are so beautiful 
in themselves that the greatest artists and writ- 
ers ever since have been inspired by them and 
have constantly represented or referred to them 
in their works. If we would understand the most 
beautiful paintings and sculptures, the greatest 
literature of the world, or even the conversation 
of educated people, we must know our Greek gods 
and heroes. They have grown into the common 
thought of all time. 


Vll 






STORIES OF CLASSIC MYTHS 


Beauteous beings from the fable-land! 

Whilst your blissful worship smiled around, 

Ah, how different was it in that day! 

When the people still thy temples crowned, 
Venus Amathusia! 

There, where now, as we ’re by sages told. 
Whirls on high a soulless fiery ball, 

Helios guided then his car of gold. 

In his silent majesty, o’er all. 

Oreads then these heights around us filled; 

Then a dryad dwelt in yonder tree. 

From the urn of loving naiads rilled 
Silver streamlets foamingly. 

• ••*•• 

Beauteous world, where art thou gone? O, thou. 
Nature’s blooming youth, return once more! 

Ah, but in song’s fairy region now 

Lives thy fabled trace so dear of yore! 

Cold and perished, sorrow now the plains. 

Not one godhead greets my longing sight; 

Ah, the shadow only now remains 
Of your living image bright! 

Schiller. 


(Tr. E. A. Bowring.) 


THE STORY OF THE 



This is the story of the Fleece of Gold, and of the Golden Ram, and 
what he did, and where he died, and how a Dragon guarded 
his Fleece, and who the man was that won it, and of all that befell 
him on his way to find the Fleece, and on his way home. Be- 
cause it is a long story, it is divided into parts. And the first 
part is the tale of “The Children of the Cloud.” 

I 

THE CHILDREN OF THE CLOUD 

O NCE upon a time there was a king called 
Athamas, who reigned in a country beside 
the Grecian sea. Now, Athamas was a young 
man, and unmarried, because none of the 
Princesses who then lived seemed to him beauti- 


3 


4 


STORIES OF CLASSIC MYTHS 


ful enough to be his wife. One day he left his 
palace, and climbed high up into a mountain, fol- 
lowing the course of a little river. Now, a great 
black rock stood on one side of the river, and made 
a corner, round which the water flowed deep 
and dark. Yet through the noise of the river, 
the king thought he heard laughter and voices 
like the voices of girls. So he climbed very 
quietly up the rock, and, looking over the edge, 
there he saw three beautiful maidens bathing in 
a pool, and splashing each other with the water. 
Their long yellow hair covered them like cloaks 
and floated behind them on the pool. One of 
them was even more beautiful than the others, 
and as soon as he saw her the king fell in love 
with her, and said to himself, 'This is the wife 
for me.’’ 

Now, as he thought this, his arm touched a 
stone, which slipped from the top of the rock 
where he lay, and went leaping, faster and faster 
as it fell, till it dropped with a splash into the 
pool below. Then the three maidens heard it, 
and were frightened, thinking some one was 
near. So they rushed out of the pool to the 
grassy bank where their clothes lay, lovely soft 
clothes, white, and gray, and rosy-colored, all 
shining with pearl drops, and diamonds like 


THE STORY OF THE GOLDEN FLEECE 5 

dew. In a moment they had dressed, and then 
it was as if they had wings, for they rose gently 
from the ground, and floated softly up and up 
the windings of the brook. Here and there 
among the green tops of the mountain-ash trees 
the king could just see the white robes shining, 
and disappearing, and shining again, till they 
rose far off like a mist, and so up, and up into 
the sky, and at last he only followed them with 
his eyes, as they floated like clouds among the 
other clouds across the blue. All day he 
watched them, and at sunset he saw them sink, 
golden and rose-colored, and purple, and go 
down into the dark with the setting sun. Now, 
the king went home to his palace, but he was 
very unhappy and nothing gave him any pleasure. 
All day he roamed about among the hills, and 
looked for the beautiful girls, but he never found 
them. And all night he dreamed about them, till 
he grew thin and pale and was like to die. 

Now, the way with sick men then was that 
they made a pilgrimage to the temple of a god 
( for they were heathen people, worshiping many 
gods), and in the temple they offered sacrifices. 
Then they hoped that the god would appear to 
them in a dream, and tell them how they might 
be made well again. So the king drove in his 


6 


STORIES OF CLASSIC MYTHS 


chariot, a long way, to the town where this 
temple was. And when he reached it, it was 
a strange place. The priests were dressed in 
dogs’ skins, with the heads of the dogs drawn 
down over their faces, and there were live dogs 
running all about the place, for these were the 
favorite beasts of the god. And there was an 
image of him, with a dog crouched at his feet, 
and in his hand he held a serpent, and fed it 
from a bowl. So there the king sacrificed before 
the god, and, when night fell, he was taken into 
the temple, and there were many beds made up 
on the floor and many people lying on them, 
both rich and poor, hoping that the god would 
appear to them in a dream, and tell them how 
they might be healed. There the king lay, like 
the rest, and for long he could not close his 
eyes. At length he slept, and he dreamed a 
dream. But it was not the god of the temple 
that he saw in his dream; he saw a beautiful 
lady, and she seemed to float above him in a 
chariot drawn by doves, and all about her was 
a crowd of chattering sparrows. She was more 
beautiful than any woman in the world, and she 
smiled as she looked at the king, and said, ^'Oh, 
King Athamas, you are sick for love ! 


THE STORY OF THE GOLDEN FLEECE 7 

'‘Now this you must do: go home, and on the 
first night of the new moon, climb the hills to 
that place where you saw the Three Maidens. 
In the dawn they will come again to the river, 
and bathe in the pool. Then do you creep out 
of the wood, and steal the clothes of her you love, 
and she will not be able to fly away with the rest, 
and she will be your wife.'’ 

Then she smiled again, and her doves bore her 
away, and the king woke, and remembered the 
dream, and thanked the lady in his heart, for he 
knew she was a goddess, the Queen of Love. 

Then he drove home, and did all that he had 
been told. On the first night of the new moon, 
when she shines like a thin gold thread in the 
sky, he left his palace, and climbed up through 
the hills, and hid in the wood by the edge of the 
pool. When the dawn began to shine silvery, he 
heard voices, and saw the three girls come float- 
ing through the trees, and alight on the river 
bank, and undress, and run into the water. There 
they bathed, and splashed each other with the 
water, laughing in their play. 

Then he stole to the grassy bank, and seized 
the clothes of the most beautiful of the three; and 
they heard him move, and rushed out to their 


8 


STORIES OF CLASSIC MYTHS 


clothes. Two of them were clad in a moment, 
and floated away through the glen, but the third 
crouched sobbing and weeping under ‘the thick 
cloak of her yellow hair. Then she prayed the 
king to give her back her soft gray and rose- 
colored raiment, but he would not, till she had 
promised to be his wife. And he told her how 
long he had loved her, and how the goddess had 
sent him to be her husband, and at last she prom- 
ised, and took his hand, and in her shining robes 
went down the hill with him to the palace. But 
he felt as if he walked on the air, and she scarcely 
seemed to touch the ground with her feet. And 
she told him that her name was Nephele, which 
meant '^a cloud,’’ in their language, and that she 
was one of the Cloud Fairies that bring the rain, 
and live on the hilltops, and in the high lakes, and 
water springs, and in the sky. 

So they were married, and lived very happily, 
and had two children, a boy named Phrixus and a 
daughter named Helle. And the two children 
had a beautiful pet, a Ram with a fleece all of 
gold, which was given them by a young god called 
Hermes, a beautiful god, with wings on his 
shoon, — for these were the very Shoon of Swift- 
ness, that he lent afterwards, as perhaps you have 


THE STORY OF THE GOLDEN FLEECE 9 

read or heard, to the boy, Perseus, who slew the 
monster, and took the Terrible Head. This Ram 
the children used to play with, and they would 
ride on his back, and roll about with him on the 
flowery meadows. 

Now they would all have been happy, but for 
one thing. When there were clouds in the sky, 
and when there was rain, then their mother, 
Nephele, was always with them; but when the 
summer days were hot and cloudless, then she 
went away, they did not know where. The long 
dry days made her grow pale and thin, and, 
at last, she would vanish altogether, and never 
come again, till the sky grew soft and gray with 
rain. 

Now King Athamas grew weary of this, for 
often his wife would be long away. Besides there 
was a very beautiful girl called Ino, a dark girl, 
who had come in a ship of merchantmen from a 
far-oif country, and had stayed in the city of the 
king when her friends sailed from Greece. The 
king saw her, and often she would be at the 
palace, playing with the children when their 
mother had disappeared with the Clouds, her sis- 
ters. Now Ino was a witch, and one day she put 
some drugs into the king's wine, and when he had 


lO 


STORIES OF CLASSIC MYTHS 


drunk it, he quite forgot Nephele, his wife, and 
fell in love with Ino. And at last he married her, 
and they had two children, a boy and a girl, and 
Ino wore the crown, and was queen. And she 
gave orders that Nephele should never be al- 
lowed to enter the palace any more. So Phrixus 
and Helle never saw their mother, and they were 
dressed in ragged old skins of deer, and were ill 
fed, and were set to do hard work in the house, 
while the children of Ino wore gold crowns in 
their hair, and were dressed in fine raiment, and 
had the best of everything. 

One day Phrixus and Helle were in the field, 
herding the sheep, for now they were treated like 
peasant children, and had to work for their bread. 
And there they met an old woman, all wrinkled, 
and poorly clothed, and they took pity on her, and 
brought her home with them. Now Ino saw her, 
and as she wanted a nurse for her children, she 
took her in to be the nurse, and the old woman 
took care of the children, and lived in the house. 
And she was kind to Phrixus and Helle. But 
neither of them knew that she was their own 
mother, Nephele, who had disguised herself as an 
old woman and a servant, that she might be with 
her children. And Phrixus and Helle grew 


AND THERE THEY MET AN OLD WOMAN, AND TOOK PITY ON HER, AND 
BROUGHT HER HOME WITH THEM” 




12 


STORIES OF CLASSIC MYTHS 


strong, and tall, and more beautiful than Ino’s 
children, so she hated them, and determined, at 
last, to kill them. They all slept at night in one 
room, but Ino’s children had gold crowns in their 
hair, and beautiful coverlets on their beds. Now, 
one night, Phrixus was half awake, and he heard 
the old nurse come, in the dark, and put something 
on his head, and on his sister’s, and change their 
coverlets. But he was so drowsy that he half 
thought it was a dream, and he lay, and fell 
asleep. But, in the dead of night, the wicked 
stepmother, Ino, crept into the room with a 
dagger in her hand. And she stole up to the bed 
of Phrixus, and felt his hair, and his coverlet. 
Then she went softly to the bed of Helle, and 
felt her coverlet, and her hair, with the gold 
crown on it. So she supposed these to be her 
own children, and she kissed them in the dark, 
and went to the beds of the other two children. 
She felt their heads, and they had no crowns on, 
so she killed them, thinking they were Phrixus 
and Helle. Then she crept down-stairs, and went 
back to bed. 

Now, in the morning, there were the step- 
mother Ino’s children cold and dead, and nobody 
knew who had killed them. Only the wicked queen 


THE STORY OF THE GOLDEN FLEECE 13 


knew, and she, of course, would not tell of her- 
self, but if she hated Phrixus and Helle before, 
now she hated them a hundred times worse than 
ever. But the old nurse was gone, nobody ever 
saw her there again, and everybody but the queen 
thought that she had killed the two children. 
Everywhere the king sought for her, but he never 
found her, for she had gone back to her sisters, 
the Clouds. 

And the Clouds were gone, too! For six 
long months, from winter to harvest time, the 
rain never fell. The country was burned up, the 
trees grew black and dry, there was no water in 
the streams, the corn turned yellow and died be- 
fore it was come into the ear. The people were 
starving, the cattle and sheep were perishing, for 
there was no grass. And every day the sun rose 
hot and red, and went blazing through a sky with- 
out a cloud. 

Then the wicked stepmother, Ino, saw her 
chance. The king sent messengers to consult a 
prophetess, and to find out what should be done 
to bring back the clouds and the rain. Then Ino 
took the messengers, and gave them gold, and 
threatened also to kill them, if they did not bring 
the message she wished from the prophetess. 


14 


STORIES OF CLASSIC MYTHS 


Now this message was that Phrixus and Helle 
must be burned as a sacrifice to the gods. 

So the messengers went, and came back 
dressed in mourning. And when they were 
brought before the king, at first they would tell 
him nothing. But he commanded them to speak, 
and then they told him what Ino had bidden them 
to say, that Phrixus and Helle must be offered as 
a sacrifice to appease the gods. 

The king was very sorrowful at this news, but 
he could not disobey the gods. So poor Phrixus 
and Helle were wreathed with flowers, as sheep 
used to be when they were led to be sacrificed, 
and they were taken to the altar, all the people 
following and weeping. And the Golden Ram 
went between them, as they walked to the temple. 
Then they came within sight of the sea, which lay 
beneath the cliff where the temple stood, all glit- 
tering in the sun, and the happy white sea-birds 
flying over it. 

Then the Ram stopped, and suddenly he spoke 
to Phrixus, and said : ''Lay hold of my horn, and 
get on my back, and let Helle climb up behind 
you, and I will carry you far away !” 

Then Phrixus took hold of the Ram’s horn, 
and Helle mounted behind him, and grasped its 


THE STORY OF THE GOLDEN FLEECE 15 

golden fleece, and suddenly the Ram rose in the 
air, and flew above the people’s heads, far away 
over the sea. 

Far away to eastward he flew, and deep below 
them they saw the sea, and the islands, and the 
white towers and temples, and the fields, and 
ships. Eastward always he went, toward the 
sun-rising, and Helle grew dizzy and weary. 
And finally a kind of sleep came over her, and she 
let go her hold of the Fleece, and fell from the 
Ram’s back, down and down. She fell into the 
narrow seas, at last, that run between Europe 
and Asia, and there she was drowned. And that 
strait is called Helle’s Ford, or Hellespont, to this 
day. But Phrixus and the Ram flew on up the 
narrow seas, and over the great sea which the 
Greeks called the Euxine, till they reached a coun- 
try called Colchis. There the Ram alighted, so 
tired and so weary that he died, and Phrixus had 
his beautiful Golden Fleece stripped off, and hung 
on an oak tree in a dark wood. And there it was 
guarded by a monstrous Dragon, so that nobody 
dared to go near it. And Phrixus married the 
king’s daughter, and lived long, till he died also, 
and a king called Hietes ruled that country. Of 
all the things he had, the rarest was the Golden 


i6 


STORIES OF CLASSIC MYTHS 


Fleece, and it became a proverb that nobody could 
take that Fleece away, nor deceive the Dragon 
who guarded it. The next part will tell who 
took the Fleece back to the Grecian land, and 
how he achieved this adventure. 


THE SEARCH FOR THE FLEECE 

Some years after the Golden Ram died in Col- 
chis, far across the sea, a certain king reigned 
in Greece, and his name was Pelias. He was 
not the rightful king, for he had turned his 
brother from the throne, and taken it for himself. 
Now, this brother had a son, a boy called Jason, 
and he sent him far away from Pelias, up into 
the mountains. In these hills there was a great 
cave, and in that cave lived Chiron who was 
half a horse. He had the head and breast of 
a man, but a horse’s body and legs. He was 
famed for knowing more about everything than 
any one else in all Greece. He knew about the 
stars, and the plants of earth, which were good 
for medicine, and which were poisonous. He 


THE STORY OF THE GOLDEN FLEECE 17 

was the best archer with the bow, and the best 
player of the harp, he knew most songs and 
stories of old times, for he was the last of a 
people half-horse and half-man, who had dwelt 
in ancient times on the hills. Therefore, the 
kings in Greece sent their sons to him to be 
taught shooting, singing, and telling the truth; 
and that was all the teaching they had then, 
except that they learned to hunt, and fish, and 
fight, and throw spears, and toss the hammer, 
and the stone. There Jason lived with Chiron 
and the boys in the cave, and many of the boys 
became famous. There was Orpheus, who 
played the harp so sweetly that wild beasts fol- 
lowed his minstrelsy, and even the trees danced 
after him, and settled where he stopped playing; 
and there was Mopsus, who could understand 
what the birds say to each other; and there was 
Butes, the handsomest of men; and Tiphys, the 
best steersman of a ship; and Castor, with his 
brother Polydeuces, the boxer ; and Heracles, the 
strongest man in the whole world, was there ; and 
Lynceus, whom they called Keen-eye, because he 
could see so far, and he could see the dead men in 
their graves under the earth; and there was 
Euphemus, so swift and light-footed that he 


i8 


STORIES OF CLASSIC MYTHS 


could run upon the gray sea, and never wet his 
feet; and there were Calais and Zetes, the two 
sons of the North Wind, with golden wings upon 
their feet; and many others were there whose 
names it would take too long to tell. They all 
grew up together in the hills, good friends, 
healthy, and brave, and strong. And they all 
went out to their own homes at last; but Jason 
had no home to go to, for his uncle, Pelias, had 
taken it, and his father was a wanderer. 

So at last he wearied of being alone, and he 
said good-by to his old teacher, and went down 
through the hills toward lolcos, his father’s old 
home, where his wicked uncle, Pelias, was reign- 
ing. As he went, he came to a great, flooded 
river, running red from bank to bank, rolling the 
round boulders along. And there on the bank 
was an old woman sitting. 

''Cannot you cross, mother?” said Jason; and 
she said she could not, but must wait till the flood 
fell, for there was no bridge. 

"I ’ll carry you across,” said Jason, "if you will 
let me carry you.” 

So she thanked him, and said it was a kind 
deed, for she was longing to reach the cottage 
where her little grandson lay sick. 


/ 



JASON LEAVING CHIRON’s CAVE 


20 


STORIES OF CLASSIC MYTHS 


Then he knelt down, and she climbed upon 
his back, and he used his spear for a staff, and 
stepped into the river. It was deeper than he 
thought, and stronger, but at last he staggered 
out on the further bank, far below where he went 
in. And then he set the old woman down. 

^‘Bless you, my lad, for a strong man and a 
brave!” she said, '‘and my blessing will go with 
you to the world’s end.” 

Then he looked, and she was gone he did not 
know where, for she was the greatest of the 
goddesses, Hera, the wife of Zeus, who had taken 
the shape of an old woman. 

Then Jason went down limping to the city, 
for he had lost one shoe in the flood. And when 
he reached the town he went straight up to the 
palace, and through the court, and into the open 
door, and up the hall, where the king was sitting 
at his table, among his men. There Jason stood, 
leaning on the spear. 

When the king saw him, he turned white with 
terror. For he had been told that a man with 
only one shoe would come some day, and take 
away his kingdom. And there was the half-shod 
man of whom the prophecy had spoken. 

But he still remembered to be courteous, and he 



I| feltjlijiijiiitl 



JASON answered: ‘i am JASON, YOUR OWN BROTIip’s SON, AND I AM COME 

TO TAKE BACK MY KINGDOM’ 


THE STORY OF THE GOLDEN FLEECE 23 


bade his men lead the stranger to the baths, and 
there the attendants bathed him, pouring hot 
water over him. And they anointed his head with 
oil, and clothed him in new raiment, and brought 
him back to the hall, and set him down at a table 
beside the king, and gave him meat and drink. 

When he had eaten and was refreshed, the 
king said: ''Now it is time to ask the stranger 
who he is, and who his parents are, and whence 
he comes to lolcos?'’ 

And Jason answered : "I am Jason, ^on’s son, 
your own brother’s son, and I am come to take 
back my kingdom.” 

The king grew pale again, but he was cunning, 
and he leaped up, and embraced the lad, and made 
much of him, and had a gold circlet twisted in his 
hair. Then he said he was old, and weary of 
judging the people. "And weary work it is,” he 
said, "and no joy therewith shall any king have. 
For there is a curse on the country, that shall not 
be taken away, till the Fleece of Gold is brought 
home, from the land of the world’s end.” 

When Jason heard that, he cried, "I shall take 
the curse away, for I shall bring the Fleece of 
Gold from the land of the world’s end, before T 
sit on the throne of my father.” 


24 


STORIES OF CLASSIC MYTHS 


Now this was the very thing that the king 
wished, for he thought that if once Jason went 
after the Fleece certainly he would never come 
back living to lolcos. So he said that it could 
never be done, for the land was far away across 
the sea, so far that the birds could not come and 
go in one year, so great a sea was that and peril- 
ous. Also there was a dragon that guarded the 
Fleece of Gold, and no man could face it and live. 

But the idea of fighting a dragon was itself a 
temptation to Jason, and he made a great vow by 
the water of Styx, an oath the very gods feared 
to break, that certainly he would bring home that 
Fleece to lolcos. And he sent out messengers all 
over Greece, to all his old friends, and bade them 
come and help him, for that there was a dragon 
to kill, and that there would be fighting. And 
they all came, driving in their chariots down dales 
and across hills: Heracles the strong man, with 
the bow that none other could bend, and Orpheus 
with his harp, and Castor and Polydeuces, and 
Zetes and Calais of the golden wings, and Tiphys, 
the steersman, and young Hylas, still a boy, and 
as fair as a girl, who always went with Heracles 
the strong. These came, and many more, and 
they set shipbuilders to work, and oaks were 


THE STORY OF THE GOLDEN FLEECE 25 

felled for beams, and ashes for oars, and spears 
were made, and arrows feathered, and swords 
sharpened. But in the prow of the ship they 
placed a bough of an oak-tree from the forest of 
Dodona, where the trees can speak. And that 
bough spoke, and prophesied things to come. 
And they called the ship “Argo,’’ and they 
launched her, and put bread, and meat, and wine 

on board, and hung their shields with their crests 
outside the bulwarks. Then they said good-by 
to their friends, went aboard, sat down at the 
oars, set sail, and so away eastward to Colchis, in 
the land of the world’s end. 

All day they rowed, and at night they beached 
the ship, as was then the custom, for they did 
not sail at night, and they went on shore, and 
took supper, and slept, and next day to the sea 
again. And old Chiron, the man-horse, saw the 
swift ship from his mountain heights, and ran 
down to the beach ; there he stood with the waves 
of the gray sea breaking over his feet, waving 
with his mighty hands, and wishing his boys a 
safe return. And his wife held in her arms the 
little son of one of the ship’s company, Achilles, 
the son of Peleus of the Spear, and of the goddess 
of the Sea Foam. So they rowed ever eastward. 


26 


STORIES OF CLASSIC MYTHS 


and ere long they came to a strange isle where 
dwelt men with six hands apiece, unruly giants. 
And these giants lay in wait for them on cliffs 
above the river’s mouth where the ship was 
moored, and before the dawn they rolled down 
great rocks on the crew. But Heracles drew his 
huge bow, the bow for which he slew Eurytus, 
king of CEchalia, and wherever a giant showed 
hand or shoulder above the cliff, he pinned him 
through with an arrow, till all were slain. And 
after that they still held eastward, passing many 
islands, and towns of men, till they reached 
Mysia, and the Asian shore. Here they landed, 
with bad luck. For while they were cutting reeds 
and grass to strew their beds on the sands, young 
Hylas, beautiful Hylas, went off with a pitcher 
in his hand to draw water. He came to a beauti- 
ful spring, a deep, clear, green pool, and there 
the water-fairies lived, whom men called Nereids. 
There were Eunis, and Nycheia with her April 
eyes, and when they saw the beautiful Hylas, they 
longed to have him always with them, to live in 
the crystal caves beneath the water. For they 
had never seen any one so beautiful. And as he 
stooped with his pitcher and dipped it to the 
stream, they caught him softly in their arms, and 


Chiron’s farewell to the argonauts 



28 


STORIES OF CLASSIC MYTHS 


drew him down below, and no man ever saw him 
any more, but he dwelt with the water-fairies. 

And Heracles the strong, who loved him like 
a younger brother, wandered all over the coun- 
try, crying, Hylas! Hylas! and the boy’s voice 
answered so faintly from below the stream that 
Heracles never heard him. So he roamed alone 
in the forests, and the rest of the crew thought he 
was lost. 

Then the sons of the North Wind were angry, 
and bade set sail without him, and sail they did, 
leaving the strong man behind. Long afterward, 
when the Fleece was won, Heracles met the sons 
of the North Wind, and slew them with his ar- 
rows. And he buried them, and set a great stone 
on each grave, and one of these is ever stirred, 
and shakes when the North Wind blows. There 
they lie, and their golden wings are at rest. 

Still they sped on, with a west wind blowing, 
and they came to a country of Giants. Their 
king was strong, and thought himself the best 
boxer then living, so he came down to the ship, 
and challenged any one of that crew: and Poly- 
deuces, the boxer, took up the challenge. So 
the rest, and the people of the country, made a 
ring, and Polydeuces and the Giant stepped into 


THE STORY OF THE GOLDEN FLEECE 


29 


the midst, and put up their hands. First they 
moved round each other cautiously, watching for 
a chance, and then, as the sun shone forth in the 
Giant's face, Polydeuces leaped in, and struck him 
between the eyes with his left hand, and, strong 
as he was, the Giant staggered and fell. Then 
his friends picked him up, and sponged his face 
with water, and all the crew of Argo shouted 
with joy. He was soon on his feet again, and 
rushed at Polydeuces, hitting out so hard that he 
would have killed him if the blow had gone home. 
But Polydeuces just moved his head a little on 
one side, and the blow went by, and, as the Giant 
slipped. Polydeuces planted one in his mouth, and 
another beneath his ear, and was away before the 
Giant could recover. There they stood, breath- 
ing heavily, and glaring at each other, till the 
Giant made another rush, but Polydeuces avoided 
him, and struck him several blows quickly in the 
eyes, and now the Giant was almost blind. So 
Polydeuces at once ended the combat by a right- 
hand blow on the temple. The Giant fell, and lay 
as if he were dead. When he came to himself 
again, he had no heart to go on, for his knees 
shook, and he could hardly see. So Polydeuces 
made him swear never to challenge strangers 


30 


STORIES OF CLASSIC MYTHS 


again as long as he lived, and then the crew of 
‘‘Argo” crowned Polydeuces with a wreath of 
poplar leaves, and they took supper, and Orpheus 
sang to them, and they slept, and next day they 
came to the country of the unhappiest of men. 

His name was Phineus and he was a prophet; 
but, when he came to meet Jason and his com- 
pany, he seemed more like the ghost of a beggar 
than a crowned king. For he was blind, and very 
old, and he wandered like a dream, leaning on a 
staff, and feeling the wall with his hand. His 
limbs all trembled, he was but a thing of skin and 
bone, and all foul and filthy to see. At last he 
reached the doorway and sat down, with his pur- 
ple cloak fallen round him, and he held up his 
skinny hands, and welcomed Jason, for, being a 
prophet, he knew that now he should be delivered 
from his wretchedness. Now he lived, or rather 
lingered, in all this misery, because he had of- 
fended the gods, and had told men what things 
were to happen in the future beyond what the 
gods desired that men should know. So they 
blinded him, and they sent against him hideous 
monsters with wings and crooked claws, called 
harpies, which fell upon him at his meat, and car- 
ried it away before he could put it to his mouth. 


THE STORY OF THE GOLDEN FLEECE 31 

Sometimes they flew off with all the meat; some- 
times they left a little, that he might not quite 
starve, and die, and be at peace, but might live in 
misery. Yet, even what they left they made so 
foul, and of such evil savor, that even a starving 
man could scarcely take it within his lips. Thus, 
this king was the most miserable of all men liv- 
ing. 

So he welcomed the heroes, and, above all, 
Zetes and Calais, the sons of the North Wind, 
for they, he knew, would help him. And they 
all went into the wretched naked hall, and sat 
down at the tables, and the servants brought 
meat and drink, and placed it before them, the 
latest and last supper of the harpies. Then 
down on the meat swooped the harpies, like 
lightning or wind, with clanging brazen wings, 
and iron claws, and the smell of a battle-field 
where men lie dead; down they swooped, and 
flew shrieking away with the food. But the two 
sons of the North Wind drew their short swords, 
and rose in the air on their golden wings, and 
followed where the harpies fled, over many a 
sea and many a land, till they came to a distant 
isle, and there they slew the harpies with their 
swords. And that isle was called ^Turn Again,’’ 


32 


STORIES OF CLASSIC MYTHS 


for there the sons of the North Wind turned, and 
it was late in the night when they came back 
to the hall of Phineus, and to their companions. 

Now, Phineus was telling Jason and his com- 
pany how they might win their way to Colchis 
and the world's end, and the wood of the 
Fleece of Gold. First, he said, you shall come 
in your ship to the Rocks Wandering, for these 
rocks wander like living things in the sea, and 
no ship has ever sailed between them. For 
they open, like a great mouth, to let ships pass, 
and when she is between their lips they clash 
again, and crush her in their iron jaws. By 
this way even winged things may never pass; 
nay, not even the doves that bear ambrosia to 
Father Zeus, the lord of Olympus, but the rocks 
ever catch one even of these. So, when you 
come near them, you must let loose a dove from 
the ship, and let her go before you to try the 
way. And if she flies safely between the rocks 
from one sea to the other sea, then row with all 
your might when the rocks open again. But if 
the rocks close on the bird, then return, and do 
not try the adventure. But, if you win safely 
through, then hold right on to the mouth of the 
River Phasis, and there you shall see the towers 


THE STORY OF THE GOLDEN FLEECE 33 


of ^etes, the king, and the grove of the Fleece 
of Gold. And then do as well as you may. 

So they thanked him, and. next morning they 
set sail, till they came to a place where high rocks 
narrowed the sea to the breadth of a river, and 
the stream ran swift, and the waves roared 
beneath the rocks, and the wet cliffs bellowed. 
Then Euphemus took the dove in his hands, and 
set it free, and she flew straight at the pass where 
the rocks met, and sped right through, and the 
rocks gnashed like gnashing teeth, but they 
caught only a feather from her tail. Then slowly 
the rocks opened again, like a wild beast’s mouth 
that opens, and Tiphys, the helmsman, shouted, 
“Row on, hard all!” and he held the ship 
straight for the pass. And she leaped at the 
stroke, and the oars bent like bows in the hands 
of the men. Three strokes they pulled, and at 
each the ship leaped, and now they were within 
the black jaws of the rocks, the water boiling 
round them, and so dark it was that they could 
see the stars. But the oarsmen could not see the 
daylight behind them, and the steersman could 
not see the daylight in front. Then the great tide 
rushed in between the rocks like a rushing river, 
and lifted the ship as if it were lifted by a hand, 


34 


STORIES OF CLASSIC MYTHS 


and through the strait she passed like a bird, and 
the rocks clashed, and only broke the carved 
wood of the ship’s stern. And the ship reeled 
in the seething sea beyond, and all the men of 
Jason bowed their heads over their oars, half 
dead with that fierce rowing. 

Then they set all sail, and the ship sped merrily 
on, past the shores of the inner sea, past bays and 
towns, and river mouths, and round green hills, 
the tombs of men slain long ago. And, behold, 
on the top of one mound stood a tall man, clad 
in rusty armor, and with a broken sword in his 
hand, and on his head a helmet with a blood-red 
crest. And thrice he waved his hand, and thrice 
he shouted aloud, and was no more seen, for this 
was the Ghost of Sthenelus, Actseon’s son, whom 
an arrow had slain there long since, and he had 
come forth from his tomb to see men of his own 
blood, and to greet Jason and his company. So 
they anchored there, and slew sheep in sacrifice, 
and poured blood and wine on the grave of 
Sthenelus. And there Orpheus left a harp, that 
the wind might sing in the chords, and make 
music to Sthenelus below the earth. 

Then they sailed on, and at evening they saw 
above their heads the snowy crests of Mount 


THE STORY OF THE GOLDEN FLEECE 35 


Caucasus, flushed in the sunset; and high in the 
air they saw, as it were, a black speck that grew 
greater and greater, and fluttered black wings, 
and then fell sheer down like a stone. And then 
they heard a dreadful cry from a valley of the 
mountain, for there Prometheus was fastened to 
the rock, and the eagles fed upon him, because he 
stole fire from the gods, and gave it to men. And 
the heroes shuddered when they heard his cry; 
but not long after Heracles came that way, and 
he slew the eagles with his bow, and set Prome- 
theus free. 

But at nightfall they came into the wide mouth 
of the River Phasis, that flows through the land 
of the world’s end, and they saw the lights burn- 
ing in the palace of ^etes the king. So now they 
were come to the last stage of their journey, and 
there they slept, and dreamed of the Fleece of 
Gold. 


Ill 

THE WINNING OF THE FLEECE 

Next morning the heroes awoke, and left the 
ship moored in the river’s mouth, hidden by tall 


36 


STORIES OF CLASSIC MYTHS 


reeds, for they took down the mast, lest it should 
be seen. Then they walked toward the city of 
Colchis, and they passed through a strange and 
horrible wood. Dead men, bound together with 
cords, were hanging from the branches, for the 
Colchis people buried women, but hung dead men 
from the branches of trees. Then they came to 
the palace, where King HSetes lived, with his 
young son Absyrtus, and his daughter Chalciope, 
who had been the wife of Phrixus, and his 
younger daughter, Medea, who was a witch, and 
the priestess of Brimo — a dreadful goddess. 
Now, Chalciope came out and she welcomed 
Jason, for she knew the heroes were of her dear 
husband’s country. And beautiful Medea, the 
dark witch-girl, saw Jason, and as soon as she 
saw him she loved him more than her father and 
her brother and all her father’s house. For his 
bearing was gallant, and his armor golden, and 
long yellow hair fell over his shoulders, and over 
the leopard skin that he wore above his armor. 
And she turned white and then red, and cast 
down her eyes, but Chalciope took the heroes to 
the baths, and gave them food. Then ^etes 
asked them why they came, and they told him 
that they desired the Fleece of Gold. Then he 


THE STORY OF THE GOLDEN FLEECE 37 


was very angry, and told them that only to a 
better man than himself would he give up that 
Fleece. If any wished to prove himself worthy 
of it he must tame two bulls which breathed flame 
from their nostrils, and must plow four acres 
with these bulls. And then he must sow the field 
with the teeth of a dragon, and these teeth when 
sown would immediately grow up into armed 
men. Jason said that, as it must be, he would try 
this adventure, but he went sadly enough back to 
the ship and did not notice how kindly Medea was 
looking after him as he went. 

Now, in the dead of night, Medea could not 
sleep, because she was so sorry for the stranger, 
and she knew that she could help him by her 
magic. Then she remembered how her father 
would burn her for a witch if she helped Jason, 
and a great shame came on her that she should 
prefer a stranger to her own people. So she arose 
in the dark, and stole just as she was to her sis- 
ter’s room, a white figure roaming like a ghost in 
the palace. And at her sister’s door she turned 
back in shame, saying, ‘‘No, I will never do it,” 
and she went back again, and came again, and 
knew not what to do ; but at last she returned to 
her own bower, and threw herself on her bed, and 


38 


STORIES OF CLASSIC MYTHS 


wept. And her sister heard her weeping, and 
came to her, and they cried together, but softly, 
that no one might hear them. For Chalciope was 
as eager to help the Greeks for love of her dead 
husband, as Medea was for love of Jason. And 
at last Medea promised to carry to the temple 
of the goddess of whom she was a priestess a 
drug that would tame the bulls^ But still she 
wept and wished she were dead, and had a mind 
to slay herself ; yet, all the time, she was longing 
for the dawn, that she might go and see Jason, 
and give him the drug, and see his face once 
more, if she was never to see him again. So, at 
dawn she bound up her hair, and bathed her 
face, and took the drug, which was pressed from 
a flower. That flower first blossomed when the 
eagle shed the blood of Prometheus on the earth. 
The virtue of the juice of the flower was this, 
that if a man anointed himself with it, he could 
not that day be wounded by swords, and fire 
could not burn him. So she placed it in a vial 
beneath her girdle, and so she went secretly to 
the temple of the goddess. And Jason had been 
warned by Chalciope to meet her there, and he 
was coming with Mopsus who knew the speech 
of birds. Then Mopsus heard a crow that sat on 


THE STORY OF THE GOLDEN FLEECE 39 

I 

a poplar tree, speaking to another crow, and say- 
ing: 

“Here comes a silly prophet, and sillier than 
a goose. He is walking with a young man to 
meet a maid, and does not know that, while he 
is there to hear, the maid will not say a word 
that is in her heart. Go away, foolish prophet; 
it is not you she cares for.'’’ 

Then Mopsus smiled, and stopped where he 
was; but Jason went on, where Medea was pre- 
tending to play with the girls, her companions. 
When she saw Jason she felt as if she could not 
come forward, nor go back, and she was very 
pale. But Jason told her not to be afraid, and 
asked her to help him, but for long she could 
not answer him; however, at the last, she gave 
him the drug, and taught him how to use it. “So 
shall you carry the Fleece to lolcos, far from 
here ; but what is it to me where you go, when you 
have gone from here? Still remember the name 
of me, Medea, as I shall remember you. And 
may there come to me some voice, or some bird 
with the message, whenever you have quite for- 
gotten me!” 

But Jason answered, “Lady, let the winds blow 
what voice they will, and what that bird will, let 


40 


STORIES OF CLASSIC MYTHS 


him bring. But no wind nor bird shall ever bear 
the news that I have forgotten you, if you will 
cross the sea with me, and be my wife.’’ 

Then she was glad, and yet she was afraid, 
at the thought of that dark voyage, with a 
stranger, from her father’s home, and her own. 
So they parted, Jason to the ship, and Medea to 
the palace. But in the morning Jason anointed 
himself and his armor with the drug, and all the 
heroes struck at him with spears and swords, 
but the swords would not bite on him nor on 
his armor. And he felt so strong and light 
that he leaped in the air with joy, and the 
sun shone on his glittering shield. Now they 
all went up together to the field where the bulls 
were breathing flame. There already was 
^etes, and Medea and all the Colchians had 
come to see Jason die. A plow had been 
brought, to which he was to harness the bulls. 
Then he walked up to them, and they blew 
fire at him that flamed all round him, but the 
magic drug protected him. He took a horn of 
one bull in his right hand, and a horn of the other 
in his left, and dashed their heads together so 
mightily that they fell. When they rose, all 
trembling, he yoked them to the plow, and drove 


JASON PLOWS WITH THE FIRE-BREATHING BULLS 



42 


STORIES OF CLASSIC MYTHS 


them with his spear, till all the field was plowed 
in straight ridges and furrows. Then he dipped 
his helmet in the river, and drank water, for he 
was weary ; and next he sowed the dragon’s teeth 
on the right and left. Then you might see spear 
points, and sword points, and crests of helmets 
break up from the soil like shoots of corn, and 
presently the earth was shaken like sea waves, as 
armed men leaped out of the furrows, all furious 
for battle. But Jason, as Medea had told him to 
do, caught up a great rock, and threw it among 
them, and he who was struck said to his neigh- 
bor, '‘You struck me. Take that!” and hewed 
him down through the helmet; but another said, 
"You shall not strike him!” and ran his spear 
through that man’s breast, but before he could 
draw it out another man had cleft his helmet 
with a stroke, and so it went. A few minutes 
of striking and shouting, while the sparks of fire 
sprang up from helmet, and breastplate, and 
shield. And the furrow ran red with blood, and 
wounded men crawled on hands and knees 
to strike or stab those that were yet standing and 
fighting. So ax and sword and spear flashed and 
fell, till now all the men were down but one, taller 
and stronger than the rest. Round him he looked. 


THE STORY OF THE GOLDEN FLEECE 43^ 

and saw only Jason standing there, and he stag- 
gered toward him, bleeding, and lifting his great 
ax above his head. But Jason only stepped aside 
from the blow which would have cloven him to 
the waist, the last blow of the Men of the 
Dragon’s Teeth, for he who struck fell, and there 
he lay, and died. 

Then Jason went to the king, where he sat 
looking darkly on, and said, “O King, the field 
is plowed, the seed is sown, the harvest is 
reaped. Give me now the Fleece of Gold, and 
let me be gone.” But the king said, “Enough is 
done. To-morrow is a new day. To-morrow 
shall you win the Fleece.” 

Then he looked sidewise at Medea, and she 
knew that he suspected her, and she was afraid. 

Now ^etes went and sat brooding over his 
wine with the captains of his people; and his 
mood was bitter, both for loss of the Fleece, 
and because Jason had won it not by his own 
prowess, but by magic aid of Medea. And, as 
for Medea herself, it was the king’s purpose to 
put her to a cruel death, and this she needed 
not her witchery to know. And a fire was in her 
eyes, and terrible sounds were ringing in her 
ears, and it seemed she had but one choice, to 


44 


STORIES OF CLASSIC MYTHS 


drink poison and die, or to flee with the heroes in 
the ship, ''Argo/’ But at last flight seemed bet- 
ter than death. So she hid all her engines of 
witchcraft in the folds of her gown, and she 
kissed her bed where she would never sleep again, 
and the posts of the door, and she caressed the 
very walls with her hand in that last sad farewell. 
And she cut a long lock of her black hair, and 
left it in the room, a keepsake to her mother dear, 
in memory of her maiden days. 

"Good-by, my mother,” she said, "this long 
lock I leave thee in place of me; good-by, a long 
good-by to me who am going on a long journey; 
good-by, my sister Chalciope, good-by ; dear 
house, good-by.” 

Then she stole from the house, and the bolted 
doors leaped open of their own accord, at the 
swift spell Medea murmured. With her bare 
feet she ran down the grassy paths, and the 
daisies looked black against the white feet of 
Medea. So they sped to the temple of the god- 
dess, and the moon overhead looked down on 
her. 

Many a time had she darkened the moon’s 
face with her magic song, and now the Lady 
Moon gazed white upon her, and said, "I am 


THE STORY OF THE GOLDEN FLEECE 45 

not, then, the only one that wanders in the night 
for love, as I love Endymion the sleeper, who 
wakens never ! Many a time hast thou darkened 
my face with thy songs, and made night black 
with thy sorceries. And now, thou too art in 
love ! So go thy way, and bid thy heart endure, 
for a sore fate is before thee.’’ 

But Medea hastened on till she came to the 
high river bank, and saw the heroes, merry at 
their wine in the light of a blazing fire. Thrice 
she called aloud, and they heard her, and came 
to her, and she said, ''Save me, my friends, for 
all is known, and my death is sure. And I will 
give you the Fleece of Gold for the price of my 
life.” 

Then Jason swore that she should be his wife, 
and more dear to him than all the world. And 
she went aboard their boat, and swiftly they 
rowed to the dark wood where the dragon who 
never sleeps lay guarding the Fleece of Gold. 
And she landed, and Jason, and Orpheus with 
his harp, and through the wood they went, but 
that old serpent saw them coming, and hissed so 
loud that women wakened in Colchis town, and 
children cried to their mothers. But Orpheus 
struck softly on his harp, and he sang a hymn to 



THE HARVEST OF THE DRAGON’s TEETH 


THE STORY OF THE GOLDEN FLEECE 47 

Sleep, bidding him come and cast a slumber on 
the dragon’s wakeful eyes. 

This was the song he sang: 

Sleep ! King of gods and men ! 

Come to my call again, 

Swift over field and fen, 

Mountain and deep : 

Come, bid the waves be still ; 

Sleep, streams on height and hill ; 

Beasts, birds, and snakes, thy will 
Conquereth, Sleep ! 

Come on thy golden wings, 

Come ere the swallow sings, 

Lulling all living things. 

Fly they or creep ! 

Come with thy leaden wand, 

Come with thy kindly hand, 

Soothing on sea or land 
Mortals that weep. 

Come from the cloudy west. 

Soft over brain and breast, 

Bidding the Dragon rest. 

Come to me. Sleep ! 

This was Orpheus’s song, and he sang so 
sweetly that the bright small eyes of the 
dragon closed, and all his hard coils softened 
and uncurled. Then Jason set his foot on the 


48 


STORIES OF CLASSIC MYTHS 


dragon’s neck, and hewed off his head, and 
lifted down the Golden Fleece from the sacred 
oak-tree, and it shone like a golden cloud at 
dawn. But he waited not to wonder at it, but 
he and Medea and Orpheus hurried through the 
wet wood-paths to the ship, and threw it on 
board, cast a cloak over it, and bade the heroes 
sit down to the oars, half of them, but the 
others to take their shields, and stand each 
beside the oarsmen, to guard them from the 
arrows of the Colchians. Then he cut the 
stern-cables with his sword, and softly they 
rowed, under the bank, down the dark river to 
the sea. But by this time the hissing of the 
dragon had awakened the Colchians, and lights 
were flitting by the palace windows, and ^etes 
was driving in his chariot with all his men, down 
to the banks of the river. Then their arrows fell 
like hail about the ship, but they rebounded from 
the shields of the heroes, and the swift ship sped 
over the bar, and leaped as she felt the first 
waves of the salt sea. 

And now the Fleece was won. But it was 
weary work bringing it home to Greece, and 
that is another story. For Medea and Jason 
did a deed which angered the gods. They slew 


THE STORY OF THE GOLDEN FLEECE 49 


her brother Absyrtus, who followed after them 
with a fleet. And the gods would not let them 
return by the way they had come, but by strange 
ways where never another ship had sailed. Up 
the Istes (the Danube) they rowed, through 
countries of savage men, till the “Argo” could go 
no further, by reason of the narrowness of the 
stream. Then they hauled her overland, where 
no man knows, but they launched her on the Elbe 
at last, and out into a sea where never sail had 
been seen. Then they were driven wandering 
out into Ocean, and to a fairy far-off Isle where 
Lady Circe dwelt, and to the Sirens’ Isles, where 
the singing women of the sea beguile the mari- 
ners; but about all these there is a better story, 
which you may some day read, the story of 
Odysseus, Laertes’ son. And at last the west 
wind drove them back through the Pillars of 
Heracles, and so home to waters they knew, and 
to lolcos itself, and there they landed with the 
Fleece, and the heroes all went home. And Jason 
was crowned king, at last, on his father’s throne, 
but he had little joy of his kingdom, for between 
him and beautiful Medea was the memory of her 
brother, whom they had slain. And the long 
story ends but sadly, for they had no happiness 


50 


STORIES OF CLASSIC MYTHS 


at home, and at last they went different ways, 
and Medea sinned again, a dreadful sin to re- 
venge an evil deed of Jason’s. For she was a 
woman that knew only hate and love, and where 
she did not love with all her heart, with all her 
heart she hated. But on his dying day it may be 
that he remembered her, when all grew dark 
around him, and down the ways of night the 
Golden Fleebfe floated like a cloud upon the wind 
of death. 


THE LABORS OF HERCULES 


BY C. L. B. 

F oremost among the demi-gods was Her- 
cules, the son of Jupiter and Alcmene. 
Juno, the queen of heaven, was hostile to Her- 
cules and began war against him from his birth. 
He first showed proof of his divine origin by 
strangling two serpents which Juno had sent to 
his cradle when he was about eight months old. 
An account of this is given in a beautiful poem 
of Pindar. 

Hercules grew up in Thebes, where he had the 
best teachers. Here he excelled in every feat of 
strength, but made little progress in the arts. He 
slew his master for reproving him and as a pun- 
ishment was sent to Mount Cithseron to mind 
the flocks. Here he remained until about eigh- 
teen years of age. 

During this period he met the two beautiful 

4 


5 ^ 


52 


STORIES OF CLASSIC MYTHS 


women Arete (virtue) and Kakia (vice). 
Kakia told him if he would follow her she would 
give him great riches, ease, and pleasure. Arete, 
whom he liked better, told him that if he accepted 
her he must expect a life of hardship and toil and 
continual fights against evil. After thinking 
over the two promises Hercules, remembering 
the precepts of his tutors, decided to follow 

Arete. This is known as the 'Thoice of Her- 

« 

cules.” 

Juno, still intent upon her war against Her- 
cules, now obtained from Jupiter a decree that 
Hercules should serve his cousin, Eurystheus, 
King of Argos, for a certain time. 

Eurystheus, whom he was sentenced to serve, 
^told him that to be free he must perform twelve 
great labors, and the following is a short account 
of how he accomplished them. 

Labor I 

First he was ordered to slay the Nemean lion, 
a monstrous beast that roamed the forests of 
Nemea, carrying off cattle, women, and children 
and killing everything that came near him. His 
skin was so thick that no arrows nor weapons 


THE LABORS OF HERCULES 


53 


could pierce it, and every one said that Hercules 
would never return alive. Hercules could not 
injure him with his club nor his arrows, but 
finally drove him into a cave where he grappled 
him with his arms and strangled him to death 
even as he had the serpents. He afterward used 



the lion’s skin for his own shield and the head for 
a helmet. 

Labor II 

Next he was commanded to kill the Lernean 
Hydra, a great nine-headed water-serpent that 
was ravaging all the country around, killing both 
men and beasts. In this adventure he was accom- 
panied by his nephew, lolaus, who, as on many 


54 


STORIES OF CLASSIC MYTHS 


other occasions, was his faithful friend. Her- 
cules advanced fearlessly and with his sword 
struck off one of the heads, when to his amaze- 
ment two more immediately came out in its place. 
They then set fire to the neighboring forests and 



with the great firebrands seared the throats of 
the serpent until finally no more grew out. He 
then dipped his arrows in the poison of the ser- 
pent so that any wounds inflicted with them 
would be fatal. 


Labor III 

He was then ordered to capture alive the Arca- 
dian stag or hind of Cerynea, an animal sacred to 


THE LABORS OF HERCULES 


55 


Arcadian Artemis. This stag had golden horns 
and hoofs of brass, a symbol of never-tiring 
swiftness. He shot across the hills so fast as 
hardly to be seen and for nearly a year Hercules 
was kept in hopeless pursuit. Finally on the 



banks of the Ladon he succeeded in tiring him 
out and brought him back to Mycenae a captive. 


Labor IV 

The fourth task appointed was to capture the 
Erymanthian boar, a horrible animal that inhab- 
ited the mountain district of Eurymanthus, from 
which it laid waste the cornfields. Hercules 
drove the boar to the snow-covered summit of a 


56 


STORIES OF CLASSIC MYTHS 


mountain and captured him alive as Eurystheus 
had commanded. It was while performing diis 
labor that Hercules killed the Centaurs, among 
them, accidentally, his beloved tutor, Chiron, for 
whom he sincerely mourned. When Hercules 
brought the great boar home on his back Eurys- 


theus was so frightened that he went and hid 
himself in a vessel. This comic scene you may 
find pictured upon some of the Greek vases. 



Labor V 

Augeas, the King of Elis, had a herd of three 
thousand cattle and the fifth task set for Hercules 
was cleaning the stables, which had not been 


THE LABORS OF HERCULES 


57 


cleaned for thirty years. The river Alpheus 
flowed by, and Hercules’ method was to turn the 
river so that it would flow through the stables. 
When he had accomplished this he again changed 
the banks of the stream. The fable says that he 
did it all in one day. 



Labor VI 

The district around Lake Stymphales, in Ar- 
cadia, was inhabited by a flock of voracious birds 
which fed upon human flesh, and Hercules was 
now dispatched to slay them. These birds had 
claws, beaks, and even wings of brass and were 


58 STORIES OF CLASSIC MYTHS 

able to shoot out their feathers like arrows. Her- 
cules slew most of these with his poisoned ar- 
rows, which were just what he needed for this 
purpose. Some flew away and never returned. 



Labor VII 

In the life of Minos, King of Crete, we read 
that Neptune once sent up a bull out of the sea 
for Minos to sacrifice. But when Minos saw the 
bull he was so struck with its beauty and sleekness 
that he kept it for his own, substituting another 
for the sacrifice. This so angered Neptune that 


THE LABORS OF HERCULES 


59 


he caused the bull to go mad, and the next labor 
of Hercules was to capture this bull and bring 
him to Eurystheus. He was as successful in this 
as in his previous labors. 



Diomedes was king of a warlike tribe in 
Thrace and possessed a drove of wild mares, to 
whom he fed human beings. All strangers com- 
ing to his realm were seized and fed to the mares. 
These mares Hercules was to bind and bring 
alive to his master. He not only did this, but 
first killed Diomedes himself and fed him to the 


mares. 


6o 


STORIES OF CLASSIC MYTHS 


Labor IX 

The next labor was of a different kind. Ad- 
mete, the daughter of his master, expressed a 



wish to obtain the beautiful girdle of the queen 
of the Amazons, a race of female warriors, and 
Hercules was told to go and get it. He had many 
adventures before reaching the queen, but when 
he had found her and told her the object of his 
visit she seemed inclined to aid him. His old 
enemy, Juno, saw fit to interfere at this point and, 
assuming the guise of an Amazon, went among 
them, and by spreading false rumors finally in- 
cited them to attack him. He was obliged to 


THE LABORS OF HERCULES 


6i 


fight them single-handed, but at last not only 
escaped to his ship in safety, but killed the queen, 
whom he believed had been treacherous to him, 
and carried the precious girdle with him. 



Labor X 

Geryones was a three-headed giant who inhab- 
ited the island of Erythea, where he had a herd 
of the finest cattle. To fetch these Hercules had 
a long journey to go. He is supposed to have 
sailed to the island in a golden boat, which he got 
from Helios (the sun) by shooting at him with 
his arrows. Arrived at the island, he slew the 


62 


STORIES OF CLASSIC MYTHS 


giant and then recrossed the ocean with the cattle 
in his golden boat, and after many adventures de- 
livered them to his master. 



Labor XI 

The most difficult feat of all, though perhaps 
not the most dangerous, was bringing the golden 
apples of Hesperides. Worst of all, he did not 
know where to look for them. They had been 
given to Juno for a wedding present and were in 
the charge of the Hesperides, or nymphs of the 
West, assisted in their keeping by a dragon. 

Milton in his “Comus’’ speaks of the place: 


THE LABORS OF HERCULES 


63 


“ — amidst the gardens fair 
Of Hesperus and his daughters three, 
That sing about the golden tree/' 



The ancient poets often spoke of the West as 
a garden of beauty. As we look upon the sunset 
sky it often looks to us like a sort of fairy land. 
They used to place in it the Isles of the Blest, and 
there is a poem about it : 

‘‘The Isles of the Blest, they say. 

The Isles of the Blest, 

Are peaceful and happy, by night and by day. 

Far away in the glorious west. 

“They need not the moon in that land of delight. 
They need not the pale, pale star ; 


64 


STORIES OF CLASSIC MYTHS 


The sun is bright, by day and night, 

Where the souls of the blessed are. 

'They till not the ground, they plow not the wave. 
They labor not, never ! Oh, never ! 

Not a tear do they shed, not a sigh do they heave, 
They are happy for ever and ever !” 



Hercules had many adventures looking for the 
apples but finally came to Mt. Atlas, in Africa. 
Here Atlas, who was one of the Titans who had 
warred against the gods, was condemned to hold 
up the heavens on his shoulders. He was the 
father of the Hesperides, and Hercules felt sure 
he would learn something from him. So he did, 
and Atlas said he would go and get the apples 


THE LABORS OF HERCULES 


65 


while Hercules held up the heavens. The burden 
was transferred to Hercules’ shoulders, but when 
Atlas came back with the apples he did not like 
the idea of taking up the burden of the heavens 
again and said he would go and deliver the apples 
himself. Hercules appeared to consent and only 
asked Atlas to relieve him for a short time while 
he placed a cushion under the great weight. 
When Atlas complied, Hercules seized the apples 
and ran away with them, thus completing this 
labor. 


Labor XII 

The last feat of all, and the one which put an 
end to his service to Eurystheus, was bringing 
the dog Cerberus from the lower world. It is 
generally reported that Hercules made his de- 
scent into the lower world assisted by Hermes 
and Athene. There he had a number of adven- 
tures, in one of which he succeeded in liberating 
Theseus from the lower regions. Finally he 
reached the presence of the lord of the region, 
who consented to his fighting Cerberus and tak- 
ing him away if he could do so without using 
weapons. As in all the other labors he was sue- 


66 


STORIES OF CLASSIC MYTHS 


cessful, seizing the terrible beast with his hands 
and chaining him up until he was helpless. 

So ended the twelve set labors and so he earned 
his freedom from the service of Eurystheus. 

When these great labors were completed the 
life of Hercules on earth was not yet over, for he 
was destined to live many years and to perform 
other exploits, and his life was quite as interest- 
ing as before. His wise teacher, Chiron, the 
centaur, had taught him ever to help the weak 
and to take their part against any who oppressed 
them. And for all his great strength he was 
often very gentle and full of pity for those who 
were bowed down by pain or sorrows. But he 
seems still to have given way to violence at times, 
and once, in a fit of madness, he killed his friend 
Iphitus, for which he was condemned to spend 
three years as the slave of Queen Omphale. Dur- 
ing this time a strange change came over him, 
and his brave and warlike spirit seemed to vanish. 
At times he wore the dress of a woman, spinning 
with the handmaidens of the queen. Yet, at 
other times, he went forth and accomplished 
daring feats. It was during this period that he 
discovered the body of Icarus and buried it, and 



JASON AND MEDEA 




THE LABORS OF HERCULES 67 

joined the company of the Argonauts on their 
way to secure the Golden Fleece. 

After the servitude to Omphale was over, he 
sailed against Troy with eighteen ships and was 
successful. He also made other expeditions : 
delivered Prometheus; subdued giants; and dis- 
tinguished himself in many ways. 

Finally the hero went to Calydon, where he 
wooed and won Dejanira, daughter of (Eneus. 
A long time he lived here and the people loved 
him for his kindly deeds. One day with his wife 
he journeyed to the banks of a river where the 
centaur Nessus was ferryman. Hercules forded 
the river while the centaur carried Dejanira 
across and tried to flee away with her. At this 
Hercules shot him through with an arrow. The 
centaur, as he died, faintly besought Dejanira to 
fill a shell with his blood so that if she should 
ever be in danger of losing the love of Hercules, 
she could retain it by spreading it over a robe for 
Hercules to wear. 

Once, becoming jealous of Hercules, his wife 
gave him a broidered robe in which she had 
sprinkled the blood. When he had put it on the 
poisoned blood spread through his body like 
devouring fire. The vengeance of the centaur 


68 


STORIES OF CLASSIC MYTHS 


was accomplished, for when he tried to throw off 
the robe the poison acted the more fiercely. When 
Dejanira saw what she had done she hanged 
herself, and Hercules, in agony, prepared to die. 
He ascended Mount CEta, where he built a funeral 
pile, laid himself upon it, resting his head upon 
his club and placing his lion’s skin upon him. 
With a calm face he bade them apply the torch 
and so came to his life’s “grandly mournful 
close.” 

But the gods of heaven grieved to see the great 
champion’s end and allowed only the mortal part 
to die. From high Olympus came a bright cloud 
and Jupiter carried his child home, where a great 
welcome was given to the hero who rested from 
his mighty toils. 


THE BOYS AT CHIRON’S SCHOOL 


BY EVELYN MULLER 

E very one knows about the Centaurs, — “a 
people of Thessaly” ; yet no one ever has told 
us about Centaur boys. 

But nowadays people are discovering every- 
thing. There is Dr. Schliemann, who has dis- 
covered all the old kitchen-ware of the ancient 
Trojans, and written a book about it; and another 
explorer has just found out about some young 
Centaurs who went to old Chiron’s school. 

It was a boarding and day school, situated on 
the Island of Peparethos, off the coast of Thes- 
saly; “a most salubrious spot,” the school pros- 
pectus said, and old Chiron taught all the polite 
arts. It must have been a trouble, for young 
Centaurs were a wild set. Indeed, people in those 
days never said, ^‘This boy is as wild as a young 
colt,” but “As wild as a young Centaur,” which 
amounted to the same thing. The Centaur boys 

69 


v 


70 


STORIES OF CLASSIC MYTHS 


had good times, you may be sure. The polite arts 
did not bother them much, though the boys both- 
ered old Chiron. He was always shouting to 
them to keep their hoofs off the desks, and to 
stop switching their tails about, for they knocked 
down ink bottles and things. Of course, in fly- 
time such a rule was very hard, but the Centaur 
boys revenged themselves by chasing the geese 
that belonged to Chiron’s old housekeeper, and 
making her scold till she was hoarse. They 
played foot-ball, too, and such a splendid game, 
for every Centaur could kick with both his hind 
feet, while he steadied himself on his fore feet. 
The ball sometimes went clear across the island — 
about two miles. At least, that is the record the 
boys left cut on the rocks at Peparethos, so far 
as our discoverer could make out and translate. 
''Gryneus” and “Pholus” must have been the best 
kickers, for he found their names cut on the 
rocks, just under this big kicking score. 

And they had grand games of base-ball; such 
running and catching! They did not need to 
stoop to steady themselves when they caught, so 
none of them were at all bow-legged, and that 
was certainly an advantage over two-legged boys. 

But they never played marbles, for they could 





“the centaur boys could not climb a tree” 



72 


STORIES OF CLASSIC MYTHS 


not kneel down properly, though it was a great 
saving in trouser-knees. They ran races, though, 
and made splendid time. “Rhoetus” was the best 
racer for two school terms, so the record said, and 
the name of the champion for the next year must 
have been kicked off out of envy, for our explorer 
noticed a big piece of rock chipped off, just under 
Rhoetus's name. They could not have boat races, 
of course, but they had swimming matches, and 
you may imagine that a boy with four legs and 
two arms could make pretty fast time. 

They were a right conceited set, those Centaurs, 
but they had a “take down,’’ when two Greek 
boys from the mainland came to school. These 
boys had only two legs, like our boys here, and 
the Centaur boys made no end of fun of them. 
But when Chiron saw that the two young Greeks, 
“Crates” and “Crantor,” were studious and po- 
lite, he used to ride them on his back, and show 
them other favors. This made the Centaurs en- 
vious, and they did their best to make the young 
Greeks’ lives a burden to them. They would not 
let them play ball, because they had only two legs, 
nor race, though Crantor was a first-rate runner, 
nor even let them chase the old woman’s geese. 
So Crantor and Crates gave up, and turned their 


THE BOYS AT CHIRON’S SCHOOL 


73 


attention to the polite arts, hoping their turn 
would come soon. 

And it did. 

Crates and Grantor had a cousin, a pretty little 
Greek girl named Celena, who came to visit them 
one day. She brought a splendid cake for the 
boys, and some honey from Hymettus, so, of 
course, all the boys were anxious to please her. 
They ran races, and played ball, and jumped 
fences, and Celena said they were very smart. 

Then Crates turned a hand-spring, and Gran- 
tor stood on his head. 

‘^Can you do that ?” asked Celena. 

The Centaurs were ashamed, but they had to 
own up that it was impossible. 

“Well, then,’’ said Celena, “can’t you get me 
some nuts? There is a tree full of them.” 

The Centaur boys all gathered around the tree, 
and reached up as far as they could, but having 
gathered all the nuts within reach some days 
before, they could get none now for Celena. 

“Why don’t you climb up, stupids ?” said she. 

Then all those Centaur boys were covered with 
confusion, for not one of them could climb a tree. 

Crates and Grantor could, and in a minute they 
were on the topmost branches gathering nuts and 


74 


STORIES OF CLASSIC MYTHS 


throwing them down to Celena, who thanked 
them very prettily, and turned up her pretty 
Greek nose at the unhappy Centaur boys. And 
after that Crates and Crantor held their heads 
high enough. 

'‘For some things,’’ sighed the Centaur boys, 
“it is better to be a two-legged boy,” and then 
they grew more modest, and went to work to 
study the polite arts. 





THE DAUGHTERS OF ZEUS 


BY D. O. S. LOWELL 

They were a multitude in number more 
Than with ten tongues, and with ten mouths, each 
mouth 

Made vocal with a trumpet’s throat of brass 
I might declare, unless the Olympian nine, 

Jove’s daughters, could the chronicle themselves 
Indite. . . . —Cowper’s Translation of the Iliad. 

T he people of ancient Greece used to say that 
Zeus (Jove or Jupiter) and Mnemosyne 
(Memory) had nine daughters. In very old times 
these daughters were worshiped as goddesses of 
poetry and song, under the name of Muses ; later, 
they were spoken of as presiding over all litera- 

75 


76 


STORIES OF CLASSIC MYTHS 


ture, art, and science. They had an altar in the 
Academy at Athens ; the Thespians held a yearly 
festival in their honor, with prizes for musicians ; 
and at Rome two temples were dedicated to them. 

The old Greek and Roman poets believed that 
the Muses could enable them to write with vigor 
and grace, and they never began any important 
poem without a prayer to some one or more of 
the Nine. This prayer formed a part of the poem 
itself, and in it the author gave the credit of all 
his thoughts to the Muse of' whom he claimed to 
be scarcely more than the mouthpiece. Thus 
Homer begins his ‘Tliad” : 

Sing, O goddess,^ the destructive wrath of Achilles; 

the opening lines of the ‘'Odyssey’' are: 

O Muse, sing to me of the man full of resources; 

and Vergil, after a seven-line introduction to his 
“^neid,” utters an invocation beginning: 

O Muse, recount to me the causes, etc. 

In the later days of Greek and Roman litera- 
ture many people began to disbelieve in the old- 


^Calliope, the Muse of epic poetry. 


THE DAUGHTERS OF ZEUS 


77 


time gods ; but the poets continued to keep up the 
custom of invoking the Muses, notwithstanding. 
Even in modern times, the great English poet 
Milton breathes this prayer at the beginning of 
his 'TaradiseXost’U 

Of man’s first disobedience . . . 

Sing, Heavenly Muse, . . . ^ 

... I thence 

Invoke thy aid to my adventurous song. 

Thus it happens that in order to understand 
much of the literature of our own times, we 
need to know the story of these Daughters of 
Zeus. 

They were born, according to Greek mythol- 
ogy, in Pieria, near the summit of Mount Olym- 
pus, the home of the gods. From their birth 
they were wonderfully gifted in music and song, 
and often furnished entertainment at the ban- 
quets of the immortals. Pierus, the king of a 
neighboring country, had nine daughters who 
were good singers, too, — at least in their own 
opinion; so they challenged the Muses to com- 
pete with them. The daughters of Zeus accepted. 


78 STORIES OF CLASSIC MYTHS 

and the contest took place upon Mount Helicon. 
You can guess the result, for mortals may not 



strive with gods. While the challengers sang, 
the heavens grew dark, as though they had “tried 
the earth, if it were in tune,” and heard only a 
sullen discord. At length the mortal music 



8o 


STORIES OF CLASSIC MYTHS 


ceased, and the celestial Nine began. At once the 
sun burst through the murky clouds, the stars 





stopped in their courses, and the rivers paused 
between their banks; at the same time Mount 
Helicon, on which the Muses often dwelt, swelled 



\ 









THE DAUGHTERS OF ZEUS 


83 



so proudly toward the sky that Poseidon (Nep- 
tune) ordered the winged horse Pegasus to strike 
it with his hoof. The command was obeyed; the 
mountain no longer rose heavenward, but from 


84 


STORIES OF CLASSIC MYTHS 



the hoof-print gushed forth Hippocrene (Horse- 
fountain), whose waters gave poetic inspiration 
to all who drank thereof. The poor vanquished 
maidens were then punished for their presump- 
tion by being changed into magpies. 

The stories which the ancients told concern- 
ing the Muses varied a great deal. There was 



THE DAUGHTERS OF ZEUS 


85 


disagreement concerning their number, their 
names, their parents, the mountain on which they 
lived, the symbols by which they were known, and 
the attitudes in which they should be represented. 
I shall attempt to tell you, however, only the 
things which were most widely believed concern- 
ing them. 



86 


STORIES OF CLASSIC MYTHS 


When Pope said, 

A little learning is a dangerous thing; 
Drink deep, or taste not the Pierian spring, 



he followed the story which says they lived on 
Mount Olympus. When the poet Gray wrote, in 
describing the Progress of Poesy, 

From Helicon's harmonious springs 
A thousand rills their mazy progress take. 


THE DAUGHTERS OF ZEUS 87 

he meant to say, that poetry began in the home 
of the Muses on Mount Helicon, and spread over 
the whole earth. Wordsworth says of one man, 
who was a poet : 

Nor did he leave 

Those laiireat wreaths iingathered which the Nymphs 
Twine on the top of Pindus; 

and the same writer says of another poet : 

Not a covert path 

Leads to the dear Parnassian forest’s shade, 
That might from him be hidden. 

Thus we see that four dwelling-places of the 
Muses were Mounts Olympus, Helicon, Pindus, 
and Parnassus. It will be well to remember these. 

A Greek writer, Lucian, says that when Herod- 
otus, the '‘Father of History,” read his famous 
work to the multitudes who had assembled to see 
the Olympic games his hearers were so delighted 
that they at once named the nine books after 
the nine Muses. Some doubt the truth of the 
story, but however that may be, it is certain that 
even to this very day the books of Herodotus are 
called Clio, Euterpe, Thalia, Melpomene, Terp- 
sichore, Erato, Polymnia, Urania, and Calliope, 
instead of being numbered. 


88 


STORIES OF CLASSIC MYTHS 


Clio (glory) is an appropriate name for the 
first book, as she was said to preside over his- 
tory; in painting or sculpture she is usually repre- 
sented with an open roll in her hand. 

Euterpe (giver of pleasure) was the Muse of 
Lyric Poetry, or that which is expressive of the 
poet’s own thought or feeling and is well adapted 
to song. She is usually represented with the 
double flute. 

Thalia (the blooming one) represented the 
merry side of life; she was the Muse of Comedy, 
or dramatic composition in which mirth was the 
leading feature. Her emblems were a comic 
mask, often carried in one hand, a crook or staff, 
and usually a wreath of ivy encircling her head. 

Melpomene (the singing one) represented the 
stern and gloomy side of life ; she was the Muse 
of Tragedy, or dramatic composition in which the 
leading characters usually meet death by violence. 
Her symbols were a mask expressive of horror or 
agony, a garland of vine leaves, the club of Her- 
cules, and buskins, actors’ sandals. The last had 
thick soles, in order to make the wearer appear 
tall and dignified on the stage. 

Terpsichore (delighting in dance) is, perhaps, 
of all the Muses, most familiar to the general 


THE DAUGHTERS OF ZEUS 89 

reader. She had charge of the Choral Song and 
Dance. She is commonly represented as indulg- 
ing in her favorite pastime. In one hand she 
carries a seven-stringed lyre, the chords of which 
she strikes with a plectrum, or piece of ivory, 
bone, or shell. 

Erato (amorous) comes next with a nine- 
stringed harp and plectrum. Sometimes she was 
merry, sometimes sad, — of changeful mood, as 
lovers are; for Erato was the patron goddess of 
Passionate Poetry and of Love Music. 

Polymnia (rich in song) often has no symbol, 
but carries her finger to her lips, and looks up 
with thoughtful gaze. She was the Muse of 
Hymns and Sacred Songs. 

Urania (heaven) was the Muse of Astronomy. 
She carries a globe in one hand, and a wand in 
the other. 

Calliope (beautiful voice), though last in 
order was first in importance. She was the 
mother of Orpheus, the wonderful musician who 
traveled with the Argonauts in Jason’s Quest. 
Her province was Epic Poetry, like the ‘Uliad” of 
Homer, or the ‘"^neid” of Vergil. She is com- 
monly shown with a stylus or metal pen, and tab- 
lets, and sometimes in the act of writing. 


90 


STORIES OF CLASSIC MYTHS 


The Muses are at times represented with feath- 
ers upon their heads— trophies won by them when 
they vanquished the Sirens in a musical contest. 

If you will remember the pictures and traits 
of these Daughters of Zeus, you will never be 
at a loss when in your reading you come upon the 
names of any of the ^'tuneful Nine.’’ 


THE STORY OF NARCISSUS 


BY ANNA M. PRATT 

I N days long ago, when birds and flowers and 
trees could talk, in a country far over the sea, 
there was a beautiful fountain. It was in an 
opening in the forest, and the little sunbeams that 
crept between the leaves, falling upon it, made it 
shine and sparkle like silver. You would have 
thought the wind was playing a polka among the 
trees, so gaily did the fountain dance and bubble 
over the rocks, while it was sending up little show- 
ers of spray that made tiny rainbows. 

But between its banks, farther down, it was as 
quiet as a sleeping child, and the ferns bent over 
and bathed themselves in it, and the cool green 
moss crept down to the water’s edge. The moun- 
tain-goat that wandered through the forest had 
never been there to drink. Even the wind was 
tenderly careful not to ruffle it, and the leaves 
that had shaded it all summer long laid them- 
selves noiselessly on either side when their turn 



AND SO HE HUNG OVER THE BRINK OF THE FOUNTAIN 


THE STORY OF NARCISSUS 93 

came to fall, but they never sullied its fair sur- 
face. 

One day, a youth named Narcissus, who had 
been hunting in the forest, lost sight of his com- 
panions, and while looking for them, chanced to 
see the fountain flashing beneath a stray sunbeam. 
He at once turned his steps toward it, much de- 
lighted, for he was so heated and thirsty. As he 
drew neafer, and heard the plash of the falling 
water and saw its crystal clearness, he thought he 
had never seen so beautiful a place, and he has- 
tened to bathe his burning forehead and cool his 
parched lips. But as he knelt upon the mossy 
bank and bent over the water, he saw his own 
image, as in a glass. He thought it must be some 
lovely water-spirit that lived within the fountain, 
and in gazing upon it he forgot to drink. The 
sparkling eyes, the curling locks, the blushing, 
rounded cheeks, and the parted lips filled him with 
admiration, and he fell in love with that image of 
himself, but he knew not that it was his own 
image. 

The longer he looked, the more beautiful it 
became to him, and he longed to embrace it. 
But as he dipped his arms into the water and 
touched it with his lips, the lovely face disap- 


94 


STORIES OF CLASSIC MYTHS 


peared, as though its owner had been frightened. 
Narcissus felt himself thrill with alarm lest he 
might never behold it again, and he looked 
around, in vain, to find where it had fled. 

What was his delight to see it appearing again 
as the surface of the water became smooth ! It 
gave him back glance for glance, and smile for 
smile, but although the lips moved as if they were 
speaking, they gave him not a word. He begged 
the beautiful creature to come out of the fountain 
and live with him. 

'‘You are the most beautiful being my eyes 
ever looked upon,’’ he said, "and I love you with 
all my heart. You shall have all that is mine, 
and I will forever be your faithful friend, if you 
will only come with me.” 

The image smiled and seemed to stretch out 
its arms to him, but still was dumb. This only 
made him desire all the more to hear it speak, 
and he besought it for a reply until, saddened by 
continued disappointment, his tears fell upon the 
water and disturbed it. This made the face look 
wrinkled. He thought it was going to leave him, 
and exclaimed : 

"Only stay, beautiful being, and let me gaze 
ppon jpu, if I may not touch you !” 


THE STORY OF NARCISSUS 


95 


And so he hung over the brink of the fountain, 
forgetting his food and rest, but not losing sight 
for an instant of the lovely face. 

As daylight faded away and the moonbeams 
crept down into the little glade to bear him com- 
pany, he still kept his faithful watch, and the 
morning sun found him where it had said good- 
night to him the evening before. Day after day 
and night after night he stayed there, gazing and 
grieving. He grew thin and pale and weak, until, 
worn out with love and longing and disappoint- 
ment, he pined away and died. 

When his friends found the poor dead Narcis- 
sus, they were filled with sorrow, and they went 
about sadly to prepare a funeral pile, for it was 
the custom in those days to burn the dead. But, 
most wonderful to tell! when they returned to 
bear away the body, it could nowhere be found. 
However, before their astonished eyes a little 
flower rose from the water’s edge, just where 
their friend had died. So they named the flower 
in memory of him, and it has been called Narcis- 
sus unto this very day. 


THE STORY OF PERSEUS 

{Adapted from the German) 


BY MARY A. ROBINSON 

M any gods and goddesses were worshiped by 
the ancient Greeks and Romans, but, besides 
these, they also believed in demigods, so called 
because, according to tradition, their parentage 
was half divine and half human. These beings 
were generally distinguished for beauty, strength, 
valor, or other noble qualities. The stories of 
their adventures told by ancient writers are as 
interesting as fairy-tales, and are so often repre- 
sented in painting and sculpture, and mentioned 
in books, that it is well for every one to know 
something about them. 

Perseus, one of these demigods, was the son of 
Jupiter, the highest of the gods, and of Danae, a 
mortal woman. It had been prophesied to Danae’s 
father, Acrisius, king of Argos, that a grandson 
would take from him both his throne and life, and 

96 


THE STORY OF PERSEUS 


Q7 

he therefore caused Danae and her child to be 
shut up in a wooden box and thrown into the sea. 
The box was caught in the net of a fisherman of 
the isle of Seriphos, by whom its inmates were 
put safely on shore. The king of the island, 
whose name was Polydectes, afterward took 
Danae under his special care, and brought up her 
son as if he had been his own. 

When Perseus had grown to be a young man, 
the king urged him to go in search of adventures, 
and set him the task of bringing him the head 
of the terrible Gorgon named Medusa. Perseus 
asked the aid of the gods for this expedition, 
which he felt obliged to make, and in answer to 
his prayers. Mercury and Minerva, the patrons of 
adventurers, led him to the abode of- the Grsese, 
the woman-monsters, so called because they had 
been born with gray hair. Perseus compelled 
them to show him where lived the nymphs who 
had in charge the Helmet of Hades, which ren- 
dered its wearer invisible. They introduced Per- 
seus to the nymphs, who at once furnished him 
with the helmet, and gave him, besides, the 
winged shoes and the pouch, which he also needed 
for his task. Then came Mercury, and gave him 
the Harpe, or curved knife, while Minerva be- 


98 


STORIES OF CLASSIC MYTHS 


stowed upon him her polished shield, and showed 
him how to use it in approaching the Gorgons, 
that he should not be turned into stone at the 
sight of them. 

Perseus donned his shoes and helmet, and flew 
until he reached the abode of the Gorgons. These 
were three hideous daughters of Phorcus, and sis- 
ters of the Graese. One only of them. Medusa, 
was mortal. Perseus Mound the monsters asleep. 
They were covered with dragon scales, and had 
writhing serpents instead of hair, and, besides 
these charms, they had huge tusks like those of a 
boar, brazen hands, and golden wings. Whoever 
looked on them was immediately turned to stone, 
but Perseus knew this and gazed only on their 
reflection in his shield. Having thus discovered 
Medusa, without harm to himself, he cut off her 
head with his curved knife. Perseus dropped the 
head of Medusa into the pouch slung over his 
shoulder, and went quickly on his way. When 
Medusa’s sisters awoke, they tried to pursue the 
young demigod, but the helmet hid him from their 
sight and they sought him in vain. 

At length he alighted in the realm of King 
Atlas, who was of enormous stature and owned a 
grove of trees that bore golden fruit, and were 


THE STORY OF PERSEUS 


99 


guarded by a terrible dragon. In vain did the 
slayer of Medusa ask the king for food and shel- 
ter. Fearful of losing his golden treasure, Atlas 
refused the wanderer entertainment in his palace. 
Upon this Perseus became enraged, and taking 
the head of Medusa from his pouch, held it to- 
ward the huge king, who was suddenly turned 
to stone. His hair and beard changed to forests, 
his shoulders, hands, and bones became rocks, and 
his head grew up into a lofty mountain-peak. 
Mount Atlas, in Africa, was believed by the an- 
cients to be the mountain into which the giant 
was transformed. 

Perseus then rose into the air again, continued 
his journey, and came to Ethiopia, where he be- 
held a maiden chained to a rock that jutted out 
into the sea. He was so enchanted with her love- 
liness that he almost forgot to poise himself in 
the air with his wings. At last, taking off his 
helmet so that he and his politeness might be per- 
ceived, he said: ‘Tray tell me, beauteous maiden, 
what is thy country, what thy name, and why 
thou art here in bonds ?” 

The weeping maiden blushed at sight of the 
handsome stranger, and replied: 

“I am Andromeda, daughter of Cepheus, king 



7 


100 


STORIES OF CLASSIC MYTHS 


of this country. My mother boasted to the 
nymphs, daughters of Nereus, that she was far 
more beautiful than they. This roused their 
anger, and they persuaded Neptune, their friend, 
to make the sea overflow our shores and send a 
monster to destroy us. Then an oracle pro- 
claimed that we never should be rid of diese evils 
until the queen’s daughter should be given for the 
monster’s prey. The people forced my parents bo 
make the sacrifice, and I was chained to this 
rock.” 

As she ceased speaking the waves surged and 
boiled, and a fearful monster rose to the surface. 
The maiden shrieked in terror, just as her parents 
came hastening to her in hopeless anguish, for 
they could do nothing but weep and moan. 

Then Perseus told them who he was, and boldly 
proposed to rescue the maiden if they would 
promise to give her to him as his wife. 

The king and queen, eager to save Andromeda, 
at once agreed to this, and said they would give 
him not only their daughter, but also their own 
kingdom as her dowry. 

Meanwhile, the monster had come within a 
stone’s throw of the shore, so Perseus flew up 
into the air, put on his helmet, pounced down 


THE STORY OF PERSEUS 


lOI 


upon the creature, and killed it, after a fierce 
struggle. He then sprang ashore and loosed the 
bonds of Andromeda, who greeted him with 
words of thanks and looks of love. He restored 
her to the arms of her delighted parents, and 
entered their palace a happy bridegroom. 

Soon the wedding festivities began, and there 
was general rejoicing. The banquet was not yet 
over, however, when a sudden tumult arose in the 
court of the palace. It was caused by Phineus, 
brother of Cepheus, who had been betrothed to 
his niece Andromeda, but had failed her in her 
hour of need. He now made his appearance with 
a host of followers and clamored for his bride. 

But Cepheus arose and cried : 

^'Brother, art thou mad? Thou didst lose thy 
bride when she was given up to death before thy 
face. Why didst thou not then win back the 
prize ? Leave her now to him who fought for her 
and saved her.’’ 

Phineus held his peace, but cast furious looks 
both at his brother and at Perseus, as if hesitat- 
ing which to strike first. Finally, with all his 
might, he threw a spear at Perseus, but missed 
the mark. This was the signal for a general com- 
bat between the guests and servants of Cepheus 


102 


STORIES OF CLASSIC MYTHS 


and Phiiieus and his followers. The latter were 
the more numerous, and at last Perseus was quite 
surrounded by enemies. He fought valiantly, 
however, striking down his opponents one after 
another, until he saw that he could not hold out 
to the end against such odds. Then he made up 
his mind to use his last, but surest, means of de- 
fense, and crying, ''Let those who are my friends 
turn away their faces,’’ he drew forth the head 
of Medusa and held it toward his nearest adver- 
sary. 

"Seek thou others,” cried the warrior, "whom 
thou mayst frighten with thy miracles!” 

But in the very act of lifting his spear he grew 
stiff and motionless as a statue. The same fate 
came upon all who followed, till at last Phineus 
repented of his unjust conduct. All about him 
he saw nothing but stone images in every con- 
ceivable posture. He called despairingly upon 
his friends and laid hands on those near him ; but 
all were silent, cold, and stony. Then fear and 
sorrow seized him, and his threats changed to 
prayers. 

"Spare me — spare my life!” he cried to Per- 
seus, "and bride and kingdom shall be thine !” 

But Perseus was not to be moved to mercy, for 
his friends had been killed before his very face. 


THE STORY OF PERSEUS 


103 


So Phineus shared the doom of his followers and 
was turned to stone. 

After these events Perseus and Andromeda 
were married, and together they journeyed to 
Seriphos, where they heard that the king had 
been ill-treating Danae. When, therefore, the 
tyrant assembled his court to see how Perseus 
had done his task, the son avenged his mother^s 
wrongs by petrifying the assemblage— king, 
courtiers, and all! Then he gave back to the 
nymphs the helmet, shoes, and pouch they had lent 
to him, returned the knife to Mercury, and pre- 
sented Minerva with Medusa’s head, which ever 
after she wore upon her shield. 

With his mother and his wife Perseus then 
sought his timid grandfather Acrisius, and found 
him, not in his own realm of Argos, but at Larisa, 
the city of King Teutamias, looking on at some 
public games. Perseus must needs meddle in the 
exercises, and so managed to fulfil the old proph- 
ecy and accidentally slay his grandfather by an 
unlucky throw of the discus, a kind of flat quoit. 

Perseus, who deeply mourned his grandfather’s 
fate, soon exchanged the kingdom of Argos for 
Tiryns, and there founded the city of Mycenae. 
He lived very happily with his wife, and ruled his 
kingdom long and wisely. 




KING MIDAS 

BY CELIA THAXTER 

H eard you, O little children, 

This wonderful story told 
Of the Phrygian king whose fatal touch 
Turned everything to gold? 

In a great, dim, dreary chamber. 

Beneath the palace floor. 

He counted his treasures of glittering coin, 
And he always longed for more. 

When the clouds in the blaze of sunset 
Burned flaming fold on fold, 

He thought how fine a thing ’t would be 
Were they but real gold ! 

And when his dear little daughter. 

The child he loved so well. 

Came bringing in from the pleasant fields 
The yellow asphodel, 

104 



KING MIDAS 


105 


Or buttercups from the meadow, 

Or dandelions gay, 

King Midas would look at the blossoms sweet, 
And she would hear him say : 

‘‘If only the flowers were really 
Golden as they appear, 

’T were worth your while to gather them. 

My little daughter dear 

One day, in the dim, drear chamber. 

As he counted his treasure o’er, 

A sunbeam slipped through a chink in the wall 
And quivered down to the floor. 

“Would it were gold,” he muttered, 

“That broad, bright yellow bar !” 

Suddenly stood in its mellow light, 

A Figure bright as a star. 

Young and ruddy and glorious, 

With face as fresh as the day, 

With a winged cap and wingM heels, 

And eyes both wise and gay. 

“O have your wish. King Midas,” 

A heavenly voice begun. 

Like all sweet notes of the morning 
Braided and blended in one. 


io6 STORIES OF CLASSIC MYTHS 

'^And when to-morrow’s sunrise 
Wakes you with rosy fire, 

All things you touch shall turn to gold, 

Even as you desire.” 

King Midas slept. The morning 
At last stole up the sky, 

And woke him, full of eagerness 
The wondrous spell to try. 

And lo ! the bed’s fine draperies 
Of linen fair and cool. 

Of quilted satin and cobweb lace. 

And blankets of snowy wool. 

All had been changed with the sun’s first ray 
To marvelous cloth of gold, 

That rippled and shimmered as soft as silk 
In many a gorgeous fold. 

But all this splendor weighed so much 
’T was irksome to the king. 

And up he sprang to try at once 
The touch on every thing. 

The heavy tassel that he grasped 
Magnificent became, 

And hung by the purple curtain rich 
Like a glowing mass of flame, 



KING MIDAS 


107 


At every step, on every side, 

Such splendor followed him. 

The very sunbeams seemed to pale. 

And morn itself grew dim. 

But when he came to the water 
For his delicious bath, 

And dipped his hand in the surface smooth. 
He started in sudden wrath ; 

For the liquid, light and leaping. 

So crystal-bright and clear. 

Grew a solid lake of heavy gold. 

And the king began to fear ! 

But out he went to the garden. 

So fresh in the morning hour. 

And a thousand buds in the balmy night 
Had burst into perfect flower. 

’T was a world of perfume and color. 

Of tender and delicate bloom. 

But only the hideous thirst for wealth 
In the king’s heart found room. 

He passed like a spirit of autumn 
Through that fair space of bloom, 

And the leaves and the flowers grew yellow 
In a dull and scentless gloom. 


io8 


STORIES OF CLASSIC MYTHS 


Back to the lofty palace 

Went the glad monarch then, 

And sat at his sumptuous breakfast, 
Most fortunate of men ! 

He broke the fine, white wheaten roll. 
The light and wholesome bread. 




And it turned to a lump of metal rich — 

It had as well been lead ! 

Again did fear assail the king. 

When — what was this he heard? 

The voice of his little daughter dear, 

As sweet as a grieving bird. 

Sobbing she stood before him. 

And a golden rose held she. 

And the tears that brimmed her blue, blue eyes 
Were pitiful to see. 

“Father! O Father dearest! 

This dreadful thing — oh, see! 

Oh, what has happened to all the flowers ? 

Tell me, what can it be?” 

“Why should you cry, my daughter? 

Are not these blossoms of gold 
Beautiful, precious, and wonderful. 

With splendor not to be told?” 


HE SANK BACK, SHUDDERING AND AGHAST 






no 


STORIES OF CLASSIC MYTHS 


‘T hate them, O my father ! 

They ’re stiff and hard and dead, 

That were so sweet and soft and fair, 

And blushed so warm and red.” 

“Come here,” he cried, “my darling,” \ 

And bent, her cheek to kiss. 

To comfort her — when — Heavenly PowerH. 
What fearful thing was this? 

He sank back, shuddering and aghast, 

But she stood still as death — 

A statue of horrible gleaming gold. 

With neither motion nor breath. 

The gold tears hardened on her cheek. 

The gold rose in her hand. 

Even her little sandals changed 
To gold, where she did stand. 

Then such a tumult of despair 
The wretched king possessed. 

He wrung his hands, and tore his hair. 

And sobbed, and beat his breast. 

Weighed with one look from her sweet eyes 
What was the whole world worth ? 

Against one touch of her loving lips. 

The treasure of all the earth? 


KING MIDAS 


III 


Then came that voice, like music, 

As fresh as the morning air, 

“How is it with you. King Midas, 

Rich in your answered prayer?’’ 

And there, in the sunshine smiling, 
Majestic as before. 

Ruddy and young and glorious. 

The Stranger stood once more. 

“Take back your gift so terrible! 

No blessing, but a curse ! 

One loving heart more precious is 
Than the gold of the universe.” 

The Stranger listened — a sweeter smile 
Kindled his grave, bright eyes. 

“Glad am I, O King Midas, 

That you have grown so wise ! 

“Again your wish is granted; 

More swiftly than before. 

All you have harmed with the fatal touch 
You shall again restore.” 

He clasped his little daughter — 

Oh, joy! — within his arms. 

She trembled back to her human self. 
With all her human charms. 


II2 


STORIES OF CLASSIC MYTHS 


Across her face he saw the life 
Beneath his kiss begin, 

And steal to the charming dimple deep 
Upon her lovely chin. 

Again her eyes grew blue and clear, \ 
Again her cheek flushed red. 

She locked her arms about his neck. 
'‘My father dear!” she said. 

Oh, happy was King Midas 
Against his heart to hold 
His treasure of love, more precious 
Than a thousand worlds of gold ! 


THE STORY OF PEGASUS 


BY M. C. 

W HEN Perseus struck off the head of the ter- 
rible Gorgon Medusa, it is said there 
sprang from her body a winged horse. This was 
the strange and beautiful animal now known in 
mythology as Pegasus, and the ancient poets and 
fable-writers told many stories concerning him. 

Hardly was the fiery creature born, when he 
flew up into the heavens, and there became the 
horse of Jupiter, for whom he carried thunder 
and lightning. In course of time, however, 
Pegasus had a less powerful rider. 

A young man named Hipponous happened to 
slay Bellerus, a Corinthian, and on this account 
was named Bellerophon ; to save his life, he took 
refuge at the court of a king named Prsetus. 
But here, also, Bellerophon got into trouble, and 
Prsetus sent him to lobates, king of Lycia, with 
private orders to have the young man slain at the 
first opportunity. To accomplish this, lobates 


STORIES OF CLASSIC MYTHS 


1 14 

sent Bellerophon to kill the dreadful, fire-breath- 
ing monster, Chimsera, firmly believing he would 
never return alive. There was a chance, too, that 
both might die, and thus lobates would gain the 
love of his people, as well as the friendship of 
Prsetus; for Chimsera had killed great numbers 
of the Lycians. 

The fore part of Chimaera’s body was like a 
lion, the hind part like- a dragon, and the rest like 
a goat. But, although his foe was so horrid and 
terrible, Bellerophon seems to have taken the 
matter very comfortably, for we hear of his fall- 
ing asleep in the temple of the goddess Minerva, 
where he had gone to talk the fight over with one 
of the priests. This nap proved a piece of good 
luck; for the goddess was kind enough to appear 
to him in a dream, and tell him that, in order to 
kill Chimsera, he must manage to tame and ride 
Pegasus, and that he would find the horse at the 
Pirene spring, for there Pegasus loved to drink. 

This famous spring of pure water supplied a 
great part of the town of Corinth. It was not 
the same as the spring Hippocrene, which we 
shall come to presently, and which is sometimes 
called the 'Tierian'' spring, from Pieria, the 
country in which it is situated. 


THE STORY OF PEGASUS ■ 115 

To aid Bellerophon in conquering the horse, 
Minerva gave him a golden bridle. When he 
awoke, Bellerophon found this bridle by his side; 
and, as it proved his dream to be true so far, he 
started for the Pirene spring, and lay in wait 
there. 

After a long time, the young man heard a loud 
fluttering of wings, and, looking up, he saw the 
wonderful horse hovering in the air. As Bellero- 
phon had hidden himself very carefully, Pegasus, 
not seeing him, flew gracefully down to the foun- 
tain, drank of it, quietly stretched himself out 
and fell asleep. Then Bellerophon crept up 
softly, and suddenly leaped upon the creature's 
back. The shock awoke the winged horse, who 
never till then had felt the human touch. He 
sprang up in wild alarm, and rose, with quick 
wings, high into the air, doing his utmost to shake 
off his rider. But Bellerophon kept his seat, 
swung the golden bridle skilfully over his steed's 
head, and slipped the bit into his mouth. After 
that Pegasus submitted, and the young man 
could make him fly just as he wished. 

Riding on his winged horse, Bellerophon 
boldly attacked and killed Chimsera, to the great 

joy of the Lycians, although lobates and Prsetus 

8 



BELLEROPHON ON THE FEYING HORSE 


THE STORY OF PEGASUS 


117 

felt sorry Bellerophon escaped. The young man 
was so grateful to Pegasus that he would have 
set him free; but the noble creature had learned 
to love his brave master, and would not leave him. 
Even when Bellerophon wanted to go into the 
heavens, Pegasus tried to fly up there with him 
on his back ; but the gods threw Bellerophon down 
to earth for trying to intrude upon them unin- 
vited. 

In later times, Pegasus was said to have been 
also the horse of the Muses, the nine goddesses 
who presided over the different kinds of poetry 
and over the arts and sciences. Once these nine 
had a singing-match with the nine daughters of 
Pierus, on Mount Helicon, in Pieria. When the 
daughters of Pierus sang, all nature became 
dark; but when the “Tuneful Nine” broke forth 
into song, the heavens, the sea, and all the rivers 
stood still to listen; and Mount Helicon itself rose 
heavenward with delight, until Pegasus stopped 
it by a kick from his hoof. Out of the print of 
this timely kick bubbled up the fountain called 
Hippocrene, whose waters were said to bring in- 
spiration to all who drank of them. The defeated 
nine were changed into birds. 

Nobody has told us the final fate of the beauti- 


ii8 STORIES OF CLASSIC MYTHS 

ful Pegasus; but some ancient writers hint that 
he returned into the heavens and became the 
horse of Aurora, the goddess of the morning. 
Certainly it is pleasant to think so ; and perhaps it 
is in memory of this event that astronomers have 
given his name to a group of stars. 


SOME MYTHOLOGICAL HORSES 


BY JAMES BALDWIN 


AURORA’S HIGH-JUMPERS 
“That runs o ’ horseback up a hill perpendicular.”— /V. 

HE steeds ever young that bring the morn- 



X ing — that is what they used to be called. 
People who wanted to see them had to rise very 
early indeed, for Lampus and Phaethon were as 
shy of the sunlight as owls are of the day. They 
were not fast travelers like the wondrous teams 
of Helios and Selene, and so far as I know, they 
never made long journeys. But of all the high- 
jumpers that have ever delighted mankind they 
were the champions. When they spurned the 
earth with their golden hoofs and leaped high 
among the morning clouds, it was hard to say 
whether they were leaping or flying; for they al- 
ways moved together, and drew behind them the 
chariot in which their mistress stood. 


120 


STORIES OF CLASSIC MYTHS 


You have been told of the maiden Aurora, her 
who tapped every morning at the door of Helios’s 
chamber and warned him that it was time to be 
climbing into his chariot. She Was the old char- 
ioteer’s younger sister. Snow-footed Aurora she 
was called — yellow-robed, rosy-fingered, air-born 
Aurora. Her daily duties were always the same, 
from the beginning of the year to the end. She 
had no very grand adventures ; she cared but little 
for romance ; she was a stay-at-home body whom 
few appreciated, but whom it was a pleasure to 
know. Three things she did every morning : she 
aroused her brother, she awakened the birds, and 
she drove her team of high-jumpers out for exer- 
cise. 

Very, very early on a summer’s morning, just 
as the darkness begins to fade away — that is the 
time when everybody used to go out to see 
Aurora’s wonderful team. The air is cool and 
bracing, and a gentle breeze is blowing down 
from the mountains. Chilly? Wrap your cloak 
about your shoulders, for you will not have to 
wait long. A monient ago you could hardly see 
your hand before you. Now, see! Faint rays of 
light begin to appear low down in the east. Be 


SOME MYTHOLOGICAL HORSES 


I2I 


still, it is Aurora bringing out her chariot ! And 
soon the whole sky is lit up with a soft, mellow 
light. It is the radiance streaming from Au- 
rora’s smiling face ! 

Do you see those long, narrow clouds floating 
lazily at some distance above the horizon? Au- 
rora is putting up her bars. At first they are 
dark, but they change color rapidly. Now they 
are a mottled gray with streaks of tawny brown ; 
now they are variegated with spots of crimson 
and patches of purple and gold. Here is one that 
has turned to a salfron-yellow, another has be- 
come a creamy white, and a third has melted into 
vapor and is rapidly dissolving into nothingness. 
Aurora’s team is ready for the grand ascent. 

You do not see them? How unfortunate! 

But do you not see that flood of light that leaps 
up and surmounts the cloudy bars, and spreads 
itself out to right and left, and finally seems to 
lose itself in the blue sky dome above us? If 
your eyes had been sharper, you might have 
gotten a fair view of Aurora then, and of the 
horses Lampus and PhaHhon, and of the chariot. 

But try again! Turn your eyes towards the 
mountains, and, while your heart is full of lofty 


122 


STORIES OF CLASSIC MYTHS 


thoughts, look upward. See those bright points 
of light leaping from cliff to crag and from peak 
to snowy summit ! See them as they rapidly de- 
scend, leaving behind them everywhere a trail of 
mellow glory! Ah, there they are — two horses 
of immense size and of a form so delicate and 
ethereal that they seem like clouds of sunbeams 
in the air, as they glide swiftly downward. Be- 
hind them floats a car of liquid light, not brilliant 
as with gems and fiery meteors, but shedding 
soft, iridescent rays through the air, and beauti- 
fying the earth and the sea. And. in the car is 
Aurora herself, so majestic, so ethereal, and so 
like a vanishing cloud of light, that — 

Ah, but the sun has risen, and horses, chariot, 
and fair driver have disappeared as though by 
magic — have melted away in the mists of the 
morning, and we shall see them no more. 

People nowadays, even those who are early 
risers, have little thought for the high-jumping 
steeds Lampus and Phaethon, although they have 
named a useful domestic article after one and a 
four-wheeled vehicle after the other. As regards 
their rosy-fingered mistress, ask the Man of 
Facts. 'The phenomena of the dawn,’’ he will 
tell you, "are but the results of the reflection and 


SOME MYTHOLOGICAL HORSES 


123 

the refraction of the solar beams from the atmo- 
sphere and from suspended nebulous vapor of 
varying density, previous to the appearance of 
the solar luminary above the visible horizon/’ 


SELENE’S SILVER-GRAYS 

“That which is now ahorse, even with a thoughi 
The rack dislimns, and makes it indistinct 
As water is in water .” — Antony and Cleopatra. 

There were never but two of them, — although 
some men say there were four,— graceful, gen- 
tle, obedient, silver-gray. Next to the fiery 
steeds that drew the sun car, they were the swift- 
est horses that the world has ever looked upon. 
But nobody remembers their names. 

Selene — pronounce it in three syllables, please 
— Selene was the sister of Helios, and, like him, 
she was a charioteer whose duty and destiny it was 
to carry light to the people of the earth. Whenever 
her brother descended with his sun car into the 
watery west, and night came on apace, it was ex- 
pected of her to come out and guide the- moon 
along the pathway of the skies. Had her horses 
been a little swifter, and had she always been at- 


124 


STORIES OF CLASSIC MYTHS 


tentive to business, the earth would never have 
been left in total darjcness. But the gentle steeds 
which she drove were somewhat slower than the 
mettlesome team that drew fhe golden car of the 
sun, and hence, do all that she would, she could 
not help losing an hour every day. Then there 
were times when she failed to appear at all, while 
at other times she made so late a start that she 
might almost as well have stayed at home. She 
could seldom be depended upon, and her fickleness 
was so well known that it became a proverb. 

Men said that she spent much of the time in 
hunting. Her chariot was of silver, beautifully 
wrought, and it was engraved all over with hunt- 
ing scenes and with pictures of coursing hounds 
and fleeing deer, of armed huntsmen and timid 
beasts, and of cool forest shades and flowery 
meadows and rugged mountain slopes. The 
horses, you may well believe, were of such rare 
grace and exceeding beauty that when they 
soared aloft in the early hours of the evening, 
they presented a picture of delight such as we 
rarely see nowadays. 

In fact, they were admired much more than 
their fiery cousins that drew the sun chariot, per- 
haps because they were gentler and did not dazzle 


SOME MYTHOLOGICAL HORSES 


125 


the eyes so much. But, even in those olden times, 
it was not everybody that could see them, and 
only children and poets and lovers had keen 
enough eyesight to behold their queenly mistress 
as she stood erect in the car with the silvery reins 
in her hands. She was very tall, white-armed, 
and flaxen-haired ; and she wore a golden diadem 
upon her head, and long white wings grew from 
between her shoulders. Leaning by her side were 
the bow and arrows which she used in the chase ; 
and hanging upon her arm was the great round 
moon shield, from which a silvery light was shed 
upon all the earth beneath. 

Once, while hunting in a grove, she saw a 
young man called Endymion lying asleep upon 
the ground, and she thought him so beautiful that 
she wished to have him always within her sight. 
And hence she bound poppies about his head so 
that he might never waken, and carried him to 
the top of old Mount Latmus, where she laid him 
upon a bed of mosses in such a position that the 
light from her moon shield would kiss his lips 
while she was driving her chariot through the 
sky. And there Endymion lay for ages, never 
growing old, but asleep and knowing nothing 
of the honor that had been awarded him. But 


126 


STORIES OF CLASSIC MYTHS 


finally, when the Man of Facts came and relieved 
fair Selene of her moon shield and sent it revolv- 
ing alone around the earth, it was found that 
Endymion had disappeared, but how or when 
nobody could ever tell. 

The white steeds of Selene now no longer jour- 
ney through the sky, and .neither children, nor 
lovers, nor poets have seen their queenly mistress 
for many a year. But I must believe that rare old 
Ben Jonson saw her and her chariot some three 
centuries ago. Otherwise he would not have ad- 
dressed this little poem to her, calling her by her 
favorite name, Cynthia : - 


Queen and huntress chaste and fair, 
Now the sun is laid to sleep; 

Seated in thy silver chair, 

State in wonted manner keep. 
Hesperus entreats thy light, 

Goddess excellently bright ! 

Earth, let not thy envious shade 
Dare itself to interpose; 

Cynthia’s shining orb was made 

Heav’n to clear when day did close. 
Bless us then with wished sight. 
Goddess excellently bright ! 


SOME MYTHOLOGICAL HORSES 


127 


Lay thy bow of pearl apart, 

And thy crystal shining quiver; 

Give unto the flying hart 

Space to breathe, how short soever — 
Thou that mak’st a day of night. 
Goddess excellently bright ! 


DIOMED 

“Strange food for horse! and yet, alas, 

It may be true, for flesh is grass.” — Hudibras. 

A JOLLY fellow, in his way, was old Diomed of 
Bistonia, and crafty beyond all other men of 
his time. Just how and when he had become the 
chief ruler of his native town nobody knew and 
nobody cared to ask. But — whether through 
love or through fear, it matters not^his people 
seemed to be proud of him, and were ready to 
lend a hand to whatever enterprise he might 
undertake. The oftener he put his hands into the 
public treasury and drew out the funds for his 
own private use, the louder would the heavily 
taxed citizens shout, ‘^Hurrah for Diomed, the 
people's friend !” And whenever he walked 
along the streets for an airing, or drove his team 
of fleet coursers around the park, the women and 


128 


STORIES OF CLASSIC MYTHS 


children would run after him, screaming, “Long 
life to our own good Diomed!’’ And yet, all this 
time, he was taking the food from their mouths 
and the clothing from their backs to provide for 
his own selfish enjoyments. Although they did 
not have elections in those days, it happened, 
every now and then, that Diomed would want 
some special favor from his people, and at such 
times he would have a smile and a good word and 
a hearty handshake for everybody; and every- 
body would go home feeling very good, and 
cheering for Diomed and saying, “What a grand 
fellow he is !” 

There were in Bistonia, at that time, a number 
of peaceable, industrious Strangers, who had 
come hither from beyond the sea because they 
had heard that it was a new place, where work 
was plenty and wages were good. These men 
cared but little for Diomed, so long as he would 
allow them to live quietly and follow each his own 
trade; and hence, while the Bistonians spent 
much of their time in running after the great 
man, the Strangers remained in their little shops 
attending to their own business. As they were 
seldom idle, and lived frugally, and spent nothing 
in torchlight processions in honor of Diomed, 


SOME MYTHOLOGICAL HORSES 


I2Q 


they could afford to work for small pay, and were 
all the time laying up something to carry back 
with them to their own country. All this, of 
course, made Diomed very angry. 

“Do you see how these Strangers are robbing 
you?” he cried to the rabble that was hooting at 
his heels one day. “Do you see how they under- 
bid you at your labor, and how they are hoarding 
up Bistonian gold to carry back to their benighted 
land? No wonder your children are crying for 
bread. It seems to me that Bistonia ought to be 
for the Bistonians !” 

“Hear! hear!” cried his delighted followers. 
“Bistonia for the Bistonians!” 

“Down with the Strangers !” shouted others. 
And the whole populace followed Diomed to the 
very doors of his palace, repeating the cry, “Bis- 
tonia for the Bistonians !” 

In the rear of the mansion which the great man 
had built and beautified with the toil of his sub- 
jects were his stables and a large private park, all 
inclosed by a very high wall. Here he kept his 
horses — a wonderful collection of chariot steeds 
and fast racers, the best in the world; and none 
of the Bistonians was so well fed or so carefully 
housed as they. The most famous among all 


STORIES OF CLASSIC MYTHS 


130 

these animals were two wild mares — Dinos the 
marvel, and Lampon the brilliant — which Dio- 
med's herdsmen had captured when mere colts on 
the grassy plains of northern Thrace. White as 
snow when it glistens in the sunlight, clean- 
limbed, fearless, alert, — it was strange that such 
savage natures should lurk in forms so fair. But 
these mares could never be tamed, and only Dio- 
med himself dared to venture into their stalls or 
lay hands upon them. Men said that they were 
tigers which had taken upon themselves the shape 
of horses ; for they were not only wild and fierce, 
but bloodthirsty. They would leave their barley 
and clover untouched if a freshly killed animal 
was offered to them; and it had finally become 
one of Diomed^s favorite amusements to see them 
kill their own game. Dogs, deer, and other 
beasts, small and large, were turned loose into the 
great cage-like stable to become the food of the 
savage creatures. The mares had even killed and 
eaten several of their keepers, and men who were 
not afraid to twitch the beards of untamed lions 
shrank back appalled when invited to stroke the 
velvet nose of Dinos or of Lampon. 

On the evening after the great demonstration 
against the Strangers Diomed sat in his chamber 
in consultation with his prime minister. The 


SOME MYTHOLOGICAL HORSES 


131 

question between them was what to do with the 
Strangers. 

'They are plainly of no use in Bistonia/’ said 
Diomed, “and our people demand that they shall 
be put out of the way. It will cost something to 
dispose of them ; but then many of them are quite 
wealthy, and all their goods must become mine, 
to pay me for the trouble they have given me. 
The only question is. What shall we do with 
them?’’ 

“If you will allow me,” said the Prime Minis- 
ter, “I will tell you what I once heard read from 
a book. It seems that in the reign of the great 
King Busiris a host of these same profitless 
Strangers invaded Egypt, and were robbing the 
poor Egyptians, just as these men are now taking 
away the substance of the Bistonians. King Busi- 
ris disposed of them in such a way as to kill two 
birds, nay, three, with the same stone. He sent 
forth a decree that they should be sacrificed to the 
bulls and cats that are the gods of the shrewd 
Egyptians, and by so doing he gained great renown 
among his people, he provided food for his favor- 
ite animals, and he filled his treasury with the 
spoils. Do you see?” 

“Capital!” cried Diomed. “And the decree 
which I send forth is this: That every Stranger 

9 


132 


STORIES OF CLASSIC MYTHS 


found, after this day and hour, within the borders 
of Bistonia shall be sacrificed to my wild mares 
Dinos and Lampon.’’ 

Of all the Strangers in Bistonia only one es- 
caped. Secreting himself on a ship that was just 
ready to sail, he was carried safely beyond the 
reach of Diomed, and was finally landed in his 
own country. There he reported how all his fel- 
low Strangers had fallen victims to the cruelty of 
Diomed, and had become food for the fierce man- 
eating mares ; and he gave a vivid picture of the 
manner in which the crafty old tyrant had thrown 
them, struggling, into the iron mangers or penned 
them up in the massive stable where the beasts 
were turned loose upon them. Of course the 
whole world was stirred with indignation, and a 
good many plans were talked of for avenging the 
luckless Strangers. 

It so happened that the great hero Hercules 
was at that time just in the midst of the tasks 
which he had undertaken for the purifying of the 
world from evil. He had slain the Nemean lion 
and the Lernean hydra; had captured the Cery- 
neian stag and the Erymanthian boar ; had 
cleansed the Augean stables, frightened the 
Stymphalian birds, and led the Cretan bull 


SOME MYTHOLOGICAL HORSES 


133 


through the streets of Mycenae. He now readily 
undertook the task of drubbing old Diomed, and 
of putting his man-eating mares where they 
would never do any more harm. At the head, 
therefore, of a little army of heroes, he sailed 
straight for Bistonia, landed upon the coast, and 
demanded satisfaction for the manner in which 
the Strangers had been treated. Of course the 
Bistonians resisted and a great battle was fought, 
in which Hercules won the day. Old Diomed 
was taken prisoner, and there was but one thing 
to do with him — feed him to his own animals. It 
was a fitting punishment for one so cruel and 
merciless. 

Hercules, who had already had so much excel- 
lent practice in capturing wild beasts, had no 
trouble in leading the fierce mares from their 
bloody stable and in carrying them with him to 
Mycenae. There, had he been so minded, he 
might have become the Barnum of his age and 
set up the greatest menagerie on earth. But he 
preferred, after exhibiting the mares for a few 
days, to turn them loose in the mountain forests 
of Thessaly. I have heard it said that they were 
devoured there by wild beasts, but I think it an 
unlikely story. 


PHAETON 


BY C. P. CRANCH 

B efore Copernicus and others proved 

The Sun stood still, and ’t was the Earth that 
moved, 

Phoebus Apollo, as all freshmen know. 

Was the Sun’s coachman. This was long ago. 
Across the sky from east to west all day 
He drove, but took no passengers or pay. 

A splendid team it was ; and there was none 
But he could drive this chariot of the Sun. 

The world was safe so long as in his hand 
He held the reins and kept supreme command. 

But Phoebus had a wild, conceited son, 

A rash and lively youth, named Phaeton, 

Who used to watch his father mount his car 
And whirl through space like a great shooting-star; 
And thought what fun ’t would be, could he contrive 
Some day to mount that car and take a drive ! 

The mischief of it was, Apollo loved 

The boy so well that once his heart was moved 

134 


so I'HAHON IF.AI'ED UP AND GRASPED THE REINS ’ 




PHAETON 


137 


To promise him whatever he might ask. ' 

He never thought how hard would be the task 
To keep his word. So, one day, Phaeton 
Said to his sire, “I ’d like to drive your Sun — 

That is, myself — dear sir, excuse the pun, — 

Twelve hours through space. You know you 
promised once 
Whatever I might ask.’’ 

“I was a dunce,” 

Apollo said. “My foolish love for you, 

I fear, my son, that I shall sadly rue. 

Lend you my chariot? No; — I really can’t. 

Is n’t there something else that I can grant 
Instead of this? A serious thing ’t would be 
To have my horses run away, you see. 

You might bring ruin on the earth and sky, 

And I ’m responsible, you know, — yes, I. 

Try something else. Here ’s a great wheel of light. 
The moon — a bicycle — almost as bright 
As my sun-chariot. Get astride of this. 

And move your legs, and you ’ll enjoy a bliss 
Of motion through the clouds almost as great 
As if you rode like me in royal state. 

No, my dear boy, — why, can’t you understand? 

I dare not trust you with my four-in-hand.” 

“I have no taste for bicycles,” the boy 
Replied. “That thing is but an idle toy. 

My genius is for horses, and I long 

To try my hand at yours. They ’re not so strong 


138 


STORIES OF CLASSIC MYTHS 


But I can hold them. I know all their tricks. 

Father, you ^Wore it by the River Styx, — 

You know you did,— and you are in a fix. 

You can’t retract. Besides, you need n’t fear. 

You ’ll see I am a skilful charioteer. 

I ’ve taken lessons of a man of worth, — 

A first-rate driver down there on the earth.” 

‘T see,” said Phoebus, “that I can’t go back 
Upon my promise. Well, then, clear the track!” 

So Phaeton leaped up and grasped the reins. 

His anxious father took a deal of pains 
To teach him how to hold them, — how to keep 
The broad highway, — how dangerous and steep 
It was ; and how to avoid the moon and stars. 

Keep clear of Jupiter, the Earth, and Mars — 

And dodge the asteroids and comets red ; 

Follow the zodiac turnpike, straight ahead. 

Though clouds and thunder-storms should round him 
spread. 

Alas ! ’t was all in vain. A little while — 

Two hours, perhaps — his fortune seemed to smile; 
When a huge meteor, whizzing through the sky. 
Alarmed the horses, who began to shy. 

And shake their fiery manes; then plunged and 
reared. 

And whirled him zigzag downward, till they neared 
The Earth. A conflagration spread below. 

And everything seemed burning up like tow 


PHAETON 


139 


In the Sun’s flames. Then Jupiter looked down 
And saw the Earth like toast, all turning brown, 
And threw a blazing thunder-bolt (but wait — 
Here in parenthesis I ’d like to state 
This may have been a telegram ; for then 
•Lightning despatches were not known to men, 
But only used by heathen gods) which struck 
The youth ; and by the greatest piece of luck 
Prevented further loss. 


This tale they told 

In olden times. If I might be so bold 
As to suggest an explanation here 
Of a phenomenon by no means clear, 

I ’d say those spots upon the Sun’s red face 
Were bruises that he got in that mad race. 


THE CRANE’S GRATITUDE 

(A bit of Greek Folk-lore.) 


BY MARY E. MITCHELL 

H ERACLEA sat at her door, her baby on her 
knee. Before her, at the foot of the hill- 
slope, lay Athens the Beautiful, the Violet- 
crowned. Beyond the low, flat roofs of the city 
rose and fell the many-tinted waters of the Gulf, 
sparkling in the happy light of day. Warm 
breezes scented with wild thyme lifted the dark 
tresses of the mother’s hair and fanned the little 
one’s cheek. 

But Heraclea’s heart was heavy. The battle 
of life had been hard since Callias left her, twelve 
weary months ago. Phorion was a wee baby 
when the fever had carried oflf his father and left 
the still youthful mother with three children to 
keep from hunger. Heraclea did not often find 
an idle moment in which to sit, as she was sitting 
now, a lazy part of the sleepy noonday world. 


140 


THE CRANE’S GRATITUDE 


141 

As she sang to her baby boy a shadow fell 
across Heraclea's sunny doorway. A tall, hand- 
some man was coming up the little foot-path with 
that leisurely carriage which characterized the 
Athenian of the better class. A flush came to 
Heraclea’s cheek as she recognized the new-comer. 
It was the wealthy and noble citizen Euclemion 
to whom she was in debt, and a quick little anger 
stole into her gentle heart as he gave her a kindly 
but patronizing greeting. She remembered the 
past if he did not. Callias had once done Eucle- 
mion a great service, so great that in the warmth 
of the moment Euclemion had said that no favor 
could be too great in return. Yet when Callias 
had fallen upon ill times and gone to his friend, 
for help, Euclemion had lent him money, it is 
true, but at a high rate of interest, and he had 
said nothing of his former gratitude. Callias had 
concealed his hurt, but Heraclea never forgot it. 
The home in Athens was given up, the little house 
on the hillside taken, and the debt gradually paid. 
The once warm friends stood only in the relation 
of debtor and creditor. Then came Callias’s death, 
and Heraclea, helpless in her .poverty, had hum- 
bled her pride and borrowed once more from 
Euclemion. 


142 


STORIES OF CLASSIC MYTHS 


Heraclea laid her boy softly in the shoe-shaped 
osier cradle/ and greeted her guest with a dignity 
worthy of /a Greek matron. He refused to be 
seated, saving that his chariot awaited below. 

Little Phorion, roused by the voices, stretched 
and sat up in his cradle. 

“That ’s a fine boy of yours, Heraclea!” ex- 
claimed the visitor. “What is to become of him?” 

The mother snatched the baby in her arms. 
“I know not, oh, I know not!” she cried. “Nay, 
mother’s little one, my red carnation, do not 
grieve,” she continued, as Phorion began to 
whimper. 

“Heraclea, I came to-day to speak of the debt ; 
the time for the interest is at hand, but I have 
changed my mind. In a twelvemonth give me 
that boy and I will forgive you the obligation, yes, 
and more ; I will pay you a sum over and above,” 
said Euclemion. 

“Give you my Phorion !” cried Heraclea. “Give 
you my baby ! Have you not a tiny one of your 
own? Surely you have enough children to bless 
your hearth.” 

Euclemion smiled, a little scornfully. 

“Yes,” he said slowly, ^^es, I have children 
enough to bless my hearth. My youngest is but 


THE CRANE’S GRATITUDE 


143 


a sixmonths-old. In a few years this boy will be 
of the right age to — to tend him. He shall grow 
up with him and serve him.'’’ 

The truth, with all its brutality, broke upon the 
mother. She remembered now ; she had heard of 
debts being canceled in that way, with the 
sanction of the law. Gently putting Phorion on 
the ground she rose to her full height. 

‘'And so you, you, Callias’s friend, come for his 
child as your slave T 

“And whv not, Heraclea? You cannot feed 
these great children much longer. It will be 
many a day before your other boy Glaucon can 
help you; especially if you let him keep at the 
schools instead of putting him to work in the 
fields or shops. I will give you the year in which 
to decide ; when it is ended the debt must be paid 
in good coin or — Phorion. Let this thought grow 
in your mind.” 

“The debt shall be paid,” said Heraclea. “I 
will work night and day. The gods will help me. 
As for selling my child to be a slave, I will tell 
you, Euclemion, I would rather see him laid by 
his father in the tomb yonder.” 

But Euclemion only smiled as he turned and 
went down the slope. 


144 


STORIES OF CLASSIC MYTHS 


''Mother, Mother cried a fresh voice, that of 
Glaucon, atnd two strong arms were thrown about 
her, as she stood with her face in her hands. 
"What js it? and why has that man troubled 
you?’^ 

It was a lithe young figure which held her and 
the thick black curls brushed her cheek, so tall 
was her big boy. 

"No, no, my Glaucon, I am not troubled; he is 
but an evil dream that vexed me. Now it is 
passed. I will think of him no more.’’ 

"I hate him,” thought Glaucon. 

"Mother,” he said aloud, as they stood, their 
arms entwined, while little Phorion on the ground 
called lustily for attention, "why do you not let 
me go to work? I am big and strong.” 

Heraclea smiled down at her boy as she took 
his slender hands in her own. 

"The gods have given you a great gift, my son. 
Some day my Glaucon will be a famous sculptor ; 
we must keep these hands for their true work. 
Meantime learn all you can.” 

As the little group stood in the sunshine a 
flutter and whirl overhead drew their eyes up- 
ward. For a number of years a couple of cranes 
had been accustomed to feed in the garden of the 




THE CRANE 


IT Tl'ING Ol r HIS LONG BILL, DROBBEU SOMETHING 


INTO HER LAI 


THE CRANE’S GRATITUDE 


147 


house, welcome and fortunate guests. Now, 
there was a great commotion about the wall, a 
hurried flapping of wings and hoarse cries of 
distress. Suddenly, one of the cranes fell, a 
fluttering white heap, directly at Heraclea’s feet. 
She stooped and touched it with a gentle hand. 

‘'Nay, Master Crane, it is a friend; do not 
glare so fiercely. See, Glaucon, its leg is broken ; 
oh, it is cruel, poor bird.’’ So together they 
worked until a splint had been bound about the 
fracture and the hurt was soon healed. 

Time went on; the golden summer days passed 
and the air was tinged with the chill of approach- 
ing winter. The big birds as usual took their 
flight to their southern home. 

When the Spring returned it brought no awak- 
ening gladness' to Heraclea. To be sure, little 
Phorion waxed strong again ; he was able to play 
out once more in the warm sunshine; the color 
crept into his wan little cheeks and the sweet 
curves came back to his dimpled limbs. But his 
mother’s heart was agonizing over the thought 
which had grown to a dreadful certainty. She 
no longer could hide the truth from herself. 
There was no possibility of her paying anything 
toward the debt. 


148 


STORIES OF CLASSIC MYTHS 


On^ day Heraclea told Glaucon the fate which 

/ 

was hanging over them. The boy’s grief and 
- anger were piteous to see. 

'Tt cannot be, Mother!” he cried. ''Our Pho- 
rion ! Euclemion is a wicked man. Can nothing 
be done?” 

Heraclea shook her head. "It is within the 
law, my son.” 

Then Glaucon, with a look which sat strangely 
on his bovish face, declared that he would offer 
himself in Phorion’s place ; that he would bury all 
his hopes in slavery that the little lad might grow 
up in freedom. 

"Did ever mother have such a son?” thought 
Heraclea proudly; but she only said, as she put 
her arms about him and looked into his clear, true 
eyes : 

"Nay, my Glaucon, you are your father’s 
eldest son and the head of the home. It is as 
the gods have willed. The luck has departed 
from the house; even the cranes have not re- 
turned to us.” 

It was a warm spring afternoon a week later, 
and Heraclea sat once more at her door. 

A soft stirring and fluttering overhead roused 
her for a moment. 


THE CRANE’S GRATITUDE 


149 


‘The cranes have returned/’ she said to her- 
self. “It is too late. What good fortune can 
they bring?” and she put her face down to her 
lap and burst into sobs. A slight touch on her 
shoulder brought her back to the present and she 
raised her head. A great white bird stood by her 
side. 

“Master Crane!” she cried. “Why, Master 
Crane ! Did no one welcome you back, poor bird ? 
Oh, it is a sad house to which you come. Master 
Crane.” 

The crane maintained his solemn and unruffled 
dignity as Heraclea stroked the glossy neck. 
Then, putting out his long bill, he dropped some- 
thing into her lap, and with a sudden whir was 
off to his nest. Heraclea looked in astonishment. 
“The pretty red glass 1” she exclaimed aloud. 
“To think of Master Crane’s bringing a gift. Let 
no one say that a bird does not have a grateful 
' heart.” 

A little stone lay in her hand like a crimson 
drop. She fingered it curiously, and entering the 
house she laid it carefully on a shelf. 

Glaucon came in before long, sad and tired, but 
with a look of resolve on his young face. 

“Mother,” he said, and hesitated. “Mother, I 


STORIES OF CLASSIC MYTHS 


150 

have found work in the market. To-morrow I 
leave the school.'’^ 

Heraclea’s heart rebelled within her, but she 
said nothing. She would not make the sacrifice 
harder for her good boy. So she only kissed his 
cheek and laid her hand softly on the dark curls. 
Then, to divert his attention, she told him of the 
crane’s gift. 

“Is that it upon the shelf?” cried Glaucon. 
“Why, Mother, in the dark corner it shines like a 
lamp. One could almost see by its light.” Hera- 
clea looked in astonishment ; a red glow illumined 
the shadows in which it lay. 

“What can it be?” she exclaimed. “Is it the 
work of demons?” 

Glaucon took the little stone between his thumb 
and finger and carried it to the light. It was 
glowing like a drop of rich red wine. 

“Old Cleon the goldsmith is wise in such mat- 
ters,” he said. “I will go and bring him,” and 
before his mother could remonstrate the boy was 
off and down the hill. 

Glaucon forgot his tired limbs as he sped over 
the slope to Athens. 

Old Cleon was in his shop. He growled a bit 
at the long walk on the wild goose chase of a 


THE CRANE’S GRATITUDE 


151 

boy’s notion, but he was fond of the bright-faced, 
willing lad who had more than once done him a 
favor, and, leaving his stall in the care of his ap- 
prentice, he bade Glaucon lead on. 

Heraclea received ^ Cleon as a distinguished 
guest. Chloris brought water for his tired feet 
and simple refreshments of bread and fruit. He- 
raclea put the crane’s gift into his hand. A 
change came over the rough face. The eyes under 
the shaggy brows lighted up with a glance so 
keen that it seemed to penetrate to the very heart 
of the little crystal. For some time he said noth- 
ing; he tapped and weighed the tiny stone and 
held it up, peering at it in all lights. Then he 
turned to Heraclea: 

“I know not how you came by this,” he said, 
‘Tut there is none such in all Athens. If it is 
yours, you are favored of the gods. Never but 
once have I handled such a ruby.” 

The sun rose brightly on the little house the 
next morning. Heraclea and Glaucon had been 
too happy to sleep. Phorion was theirs, and 
peace and prosperity and Glaucon’s future were 
secure. It was almost too much joy to come at 
once : Ah, the blessed crane ! 


10 


D^DALUS AND ICARUS 


BY C. L. B. 


HENEVER any one tells us not to soar too 



V V high lest we burn our wings and fall into 
the sea, we may know that he is referring to the old 
Greek myth about Daedalus and his son Icarus. 

Daedalus is said to have sprung from a race 
of kings and to have been a great artist, artisan, 
and mechanic. The Greeks gave him the credit 
for having invented the saw, the ax, the plumb- 
line, the gimlet, and glue. According to the myth, 
he also amused people by making statues that 
moved like human beings. 

Now at this time Minos was king of Crete and 
his grandson Minos II made a boast that he could 
obtain anything he prayed for. To prove it, he 
prayed Neptune to send him a bull for sacrifice. 
When the bull came, it was so beautiful in appear- 
ance that Minos thought it would be a pity to kill 
it, and he secretly put it with his own animals and 
substituted another for the sacrifice to the god. 
This so displeased Neptune that he caused the 


152 


DAEDALUS AND ICARUS 


153 


bull to run wild. It was a terror to the kingdom 
until Hercules subdued it and rode it away over 
the waves to Greece. Before it went it had a 
horrible offspring called the Minotaur, which also 
roamed the island wild for many a day. Daeda- 
lus, being at the court of Minos, constructed a 
labyrinth for the Minotaur which had so many 
windings and turnings that the beast could not 
find his way out but lived in it fed by human 
victims — seven youths and seven maidens being 
sent every year from Athens for the purpose. 

But Daedalus, in spite of his cleverness at mak- 
ing things, could not always keep the good-will of 
the rulers to whose courts he was welcomed. He 
so enraged King Minos that he had him impris- 
oned in the very labyrinth he had planned. Dae- 
dalus set his wits to work, and presently fitted 
himself and his son Icarus with a pair of wings 
each, made of feathers stuck together with wax 
and worked by wires. With the aid of these the 
prisoners poised themselves in air and started to 
fly across the Mediterranean. Daedalus told 
Icarus not to fly too near to the sun, and at first 
all went well. Daedalus kept near the surface of 
the water, and reached shore safe and sound ; but 
the son was more aspiring and soared so high 


154 


STORIES OF CLASSIC MYTHS 


.that the wax was melted in the sun, and he fell 
into the sea and was drowned. The water where 
he fell was afterward called the Icarian Sea, and 
the reckless flight of Icarus has served ever since 
to illustrate the danger of being too ambitious. 

. . . with melting wax and loosened strings 
Sunk hapless Icarus on unfaithful wings; 

Headlong he rushed through the affrighted air. 
With limbs distorted and dishevelled hair; 

His scattered plumage danced upon the wave, 

And sorrowing Nerieds decked his watery grave; 
O’er his pale corse their pearly sea-flowers shed, 
And strewed with crimson moss his marble bed : 
Struck in their coral towers the passing bell, 

And wide in ocean tolled his echoing knell. 

Darwin 


There was an interesting sequel to this sad 
event for Father Daedalus. When he finally 
reached Sicily, he was kindly received by the king 
and there built a temple to Apollo. In it he hung 
up his wings as an offering to the god. When old 
King Minos heard where Daedalus was, he 
started out after him with a great fleet, in order 
to kill him. But the daughter of the Sicilian 
king, conspiring to save him, scalded’ Minos when 
he was bathing, and Daedalus was saved. 



“headlong he hushed THHOUGH the AFKKIGHTED AIR 




CLASSIC MYTHS 


BY C. L. B. 



HE classic myths are the poetic narratives of 


A the birth, life, and actions of the old heathen 
gods and heroes. 

Wise men and scholars have spent their lives 
in trying to find out where these wonderful 
stories first came from, and different men have 
given different explanations. Of course no one 
believes the stories of the gods and goddesses 
now-a-days, nor has any one believed in them for 
hundreds of years. Yet, at one time, the fore- 
most nations of the earth, the 'Greeks and the 
Romans, not only believed the stories but wor- 
shiped the gods and made sacrifices to them. It 
is because the stories are so beautiful, and be- 
cause so many painters, sculptors, and writers, 
both then and ever since, have used them for* sub- 
jects, that to-day we are interested in them and 
must know about them if we are to understand 
what we read, and see, and hear. 


157 


158 


STORIES OF CLASSIC MYTHS 


The scholars who have studied to find out how 
these myths began, have not agreed entirely 
about it, but many think that in the early ages, 
before there were any separate nations and be- 
fore the most elementary facts of science were 
known, people looked at the things they saw and 
heard very differently than we do to-day. As 
they looked about them and saw the sun, and the 
moon, and the rivers, and the clouds, they viewed 
them with wonder, and were apt to talk about 
them in a poetic way that would be strange to us. 
Every boy and girl now knows that the earth 
revolves around the sun, and how the clouds are 
formed from vapor. We say that the sun rises 
or sets, and think very little about it. But to these 
early people the sun was a great curiosity. They 
thought of it as a great being and gave it a name 
like a person (Phoebus). They thought of the 
rivers and clouds as persons having lives like 
themselves, as seeing and feeling and doing as 
they chose. Thinking of the sun as a person, in- 
stead of saying, as we would, that the dawn comes 
before sunrise, they would speak of the sun as 
loving the dawn or morning and longing to 
overtake her. 

We speak of the clouds which scud along the 


CLASSIC MYTHS 


159 


sky, but they called the clouds the sheep or cows 
of the sun which the children of the morning 
were driving to their pastures in the blue fields 
of heaven. 

But as ages went by and they began to think 
of the names of these objects as separate beings, 
it finally came to pass that instead of saying, as 
before, ^^The sun loves the dawn,’’ they would 
say, 'Thoebus loves Daphne,” and that they 
would think of them as divine being's, forgetting 
the way they began to have the names. At last 
they believed in them as gods, and came to wor- 
ship them. It took many generations for this to 
come about, and no one can tell just where one 
myth ended and another began, nor when it all first 
began to be understood by the people as a great 
religion. It took place gradually in the beautiful 
southern land, where the people who live there 
to-day, even, love to lounge about and dream of 
poetical things. Do you wish you had lived in 
those days when the world was young and looked 
so strange and mysterious to the beauty-loving 
people? Perhaps it would be just as well not to 
make up your mind all at once, but it will be 
worth thinking of as you read more about it. 
We have many good things now of which they 


i6o STORIES OF CLASSIC MYTHS 

knew nothing in those days. We have books, 
and printing, and telegraphs, and telephones; 
steamships, and railroads, and a thousand other 
wonders of which those primitive people could 
not even dream. Yet let us not say too quickly, 
either, that we prefer our own day. There must 
be something to be said on the other side when a 
great and good man like Mr. Gladstone said he 
would rather have lived in the age of Homer than 
in any other age. And Homer is the poet in 
whose works we* learn the most that we know of 
this heathen religion. I suppose Mr. Gladstone 
would not have exchanged his religion for a 
heathen mythology, although he studied mythol- 
ogy thoroughly and brought out much that was 
fine and good in it, but there must have been 
something about that old Greek life which was 
worth while and which we would do well to imi- 
tate. At any rate, it was a calmer and more 
peaceful life; it was, perhaps, more heroic and 
beautiful ; it was nearer to nature, and the people 
strove for fine athletic bodies and cultured minds, 
before money or trade. They would rather do, or 
make, or think a beautiful thing than to outdo 
their neighbors in getting rich. 

W e have spoken of the classic myths as being 


CLASSIC MYTHS 


i6i 


so beautiful that they have inspired all the writ- 
ers, poets, sculptors, and painters to use them. 
But some of you may have heard the stories of 
Prometheus or Tantalus and thought them hor- 
rible rather than beautiful. This is true, al- 
though if we go back far enough we generally 
find a good or noble action to balance the cruel 
one. And these cruel stories came about in the 
same way as the other ones — from looking at 
Nature as though her forces were people like 
themselves. The story of Tantalus, which seems 
coarse and horrible, came about naturally enough. 
People noticed the effects of the hot sun and dry 
weather and said at first that the sun, when he 
glared too fiercely, killed the fruits which his 
warmth was ripening. But when they had for- 
gotten the natural forces and substituted the 
names, they spoke of King Tantalus, who killed 
and roasted his own child, and set him on the 
banquet table of the gods. 

So we could go on and trace nearly all the 
stories to some natural forces working on the 
active southern fancies of those early races. 
Some of the forces were regarded as friendly to 
man, some as hostile, and in this way again the 
idea of gods may have crept in, for they strove to 


STORIES OF CLASSIC MYTHS 


162 

appease the wrath of the hostile forces, such as 
storms and winds, and to win the favor of the 
friendly ones. 

The Greeks were certainly the first to develop 
all these fancies into a religion, but later on the 
Romans, after they had been in contact with the 
Greeks for many years, became converted to it 
and adopted it. Thus the Greek god Zeus became 
the Roman god Jupiter, and so on. We learn the 
most that we know about their ideas of their 
gods from their poets — Homer, whom we have 
already mentioned, Virgil, Ovid, Pindar, and 
others. 

The gods of heaven, as the Greeks thought of 
them, were a great family who dwelt on Mt. 
Olympus. Some one has noticed that their lives 
were in many ways very much as might be those 
of any company of rich people, freed from 
care and in search of pleasure. For they were 
human in outward appearance, although they 
far surpassed man both in beauty and strength. 
They had supernatural attributes, but with some 
restrictions. Thus they could fly through space 
at great speed and could see anywhere they 
wished without going there, and hear what 
was said in another city, but still could not be 


CLASSIC MYTHS 


163 

in two places at once. They were obliged to 
eat, and drink, and sleep, but they could go 
without food or sleep much longer than mor- 
tals, and their food was different. They were 
served with nectar to eat and their drink was 
ambrosia. They might be born in the morn- 
ing and be full grown and doing heroic deeds 
before night. 

But the most important difference between 
gods and men was that the gods never grew old, 
but remained ever young and beautiful. Com- 
pared with men who had pain and sickness, they 
were a happy race indeed, and lived at their ease. 
They were not perfect in every way, for they had 
many traits of character that led them into trou- 
bles. They felt sorry at separations, jealousies 
sprung up, and they had many painful sen- 
sations. Their amusements led them into un- 
happiness, too, and they pursued all kinds of 
sport with ardor, loved to hunt and travel, were 
fond of feasts and dancing and many other 
diversions. 

Their minds were stronger than humans’ and 
they were better morally than men, and punished 
the evil that men did in various ways. Zeus, or 
Jupiter (for the gods are better known by their 


164 


STORIES OF CLASSIC MYTHS 


Latin names than the Greek), held his court in a 
great hall where the gods feasted each day. A 
gate of clouds kept by goddesses, the Hours or 
Seasons, opened to allow them to go in and out. 
They discussed the affairs of earth while Apollo 
(Phoebus) made music on his lyre and the Muses 
sang. They had their separate dwellings where 
they slept at night. 

It is related that before the gods of heaven 
reached this blissful state on Olympus they had 
many fierce wars with other gods for the empire 
of the universe. For there were many enemies, 
such as the gods of the sea and the water, the 
gods of the earth, and the gods of the lower world. 
There was also a race of demi-gods or heroes, 
beings of matchless worth, partly gods and partly 
men, and these we read constantly about because 
of their importance in art and literature. Many 
of the gods of the sea, the earth, and the under 
world came into intimate contact with men’s af- 
fairs and so were more ardently worshiped and 
propitiated than even the gods of Olympus. 

But the gods of Olympus were known as the 
great gods. The following ten are the ones 
which we meet most frequently in art and in 
literature : 


' , 



• ^ • ■ x». ■:' 

, . 1 » ' 



'‘’"I 



I 



HliAlJ UK Zia s FROM MKLOS 


RKlllSH MUSFUM 


CLASSIC MYTHS 


167 


the father 

his sister and wife 


Greek name 

Zeus 

Hera 

Athene 

Ares 

Hephestes 

Phoebus 

Artemis ■ 

Aphrodite 

Hermes 

Hestia 


Roman name 

Jupiter 

Juno 

Minerva 

Mars 

Vulcan 

Apollo 

Diana 

Venus 

Mercury 

Vesta 


^his children 


Jupiter (Zeus or Jove), the father and king of 
the gods and men, was worshiped as the ruler and 
preserver of the universe. He ordered the alter- 
nation of day and night and the changes of the 
seasons. The world was his footstool: he could 
make the winds to blow, the rains to come and go. 
He watched over the administration of justice in 
the world and protected kings in their palaces. He 
demanded honesty among men, punished wrong 
and cruelty, and even the poorest could call upon 
his power. As he sat upon his throne he had nu- 
merous attendants, servants, and messengers to 
do his will. As messenger and agent between 
heaven and earth, he had both his son Mercury 
and the golden-winged Iris. Her name denoted 
the many-colored rainbow, with its span like a 


STORIES OF CLASSIC MYTHS 


1 68 

bridge from earth to heaven. In person, Jupiter 
was of majestic figure with flowing locks. He is 
usually represented with his scepter of thunder- 
bolts in one hand, a statue of Victory in the other, 
and his eagle near by. 

To illustrate the kindly side of his rule upon the 
earth, there is the story of Philemon and Baucis. 
They were an aged couple of the poorer class, liv- 
ing peacefully and full of piety in their cottage in 
Phrygia, when Jupiter, disguised as a poor and 
weary traveler, paid them a visit. Bidding him 
welcome to the house, they set about pre- 
paring a meal for him and for Mercury, the 
usual companion of his earth journeys. The poor 
couple were about to kill for the repast their only 
goose, when Jupiter, seeing their genuine hospi- 
tality, disclosed himself to them in order to pre- 
vent the needless sacrifice. He then transformed 
their humble cottage into a splendid temple and 
installed the aged pair as his priest and priestess. 
When he had demanded of them what they would 
have, they had only asked that they might die 
together in his service, and this modest request 
he also granted. When death took them away 
they became two trees that grew side by side— an 
oak and a linden. 


CLASSIC MYTHS 


169 


Some of the adventures of Jupiter do not lack a 
taint of human weakness, and the affairs of earth 
in which he took part did not always turn out 
exactly as he wished. His favorite heroes were 
sometimes killed in the wars and his love affairs 
led to many complications. 

But his worship by the people was none the less 
sincere. Great games, both Greek and Roman, were 
given in his honor, beautiful temples were con- 
secrated to his name, and many sacrifices were of- 
fered him. The sacrifice most acceptable was that 
of a hundred oxen, called a hecatomb. Among 
trees the oak and the olive were sacred to him and 
among birds the eagle. Many statues were made 
to represent him, the most famous that by Phi- 
dias at Olympia. The figure was seated upon a 
lofty throne and was more than forty feet high. 
It was made of gold and ivory, or more probably 
of wood covered or overlaid with gold and ivory. 
Phidias diffused a lofty majesty over the counte- 
nance and truly represented him not only as ruler 
but as a kindly father and dispenser of good. So 
splendid was the statue as a work of art and so 
well pleased was Jupiter with it that he caused a 
flash of lightning to descend through the roof of 
the temple as a sign of his favor. This sublime 


170 


STORIES OF CLASSIC MYTHS 


masterpiece was reckoned as one of the seven 
wonders of the world and continued in existence 
for over eight hundred years. 

Juno (or Hera), the sister and wife of Jupiter, 
was what we might call the female power of the 
heavens. She was the goddess of the air and of 
marriage, and won the affections of Jupiter by 
her great beauty. At their wedding a tree of 
golden apples grew up and streams of ambrosia 
flowed by their couch. But the meetings of this 
divine pair often resulted in quarrels and wrang- 
ling. The poets, most of all Homer, seem to lay 
the blame to Juno, describing her as frequently 
jealous and quarrelsome, her character as proud 
and cold, and not free from bitterness. Once we 
are told that Jupiter actually beat her. At an- 
other time, when she was plotting against Her- 
cules, whom she hated, it is said that Jupiter 
attached two great weights, the earth and the sea, 
to her feet and hung her out of Olympus. 

But she is always represented as virtuous and 
true, and probably Jupiter gave her much cause 
to worry over his actions. Her favorite com- 
panions were the Graces and the Seasons. The 
peacock and the cuckoo, heralds of spring, were 
sacred to her. The springtime festival was cele- 


CLASSIC MYTHS 


171 

brated in her honor. The ceremony was an imi- 
tation of a wedding, a figure of the goddess 
being decked out in bridal attire and placed upon 
a couch of willow branches, while wreaths and 
garlands were scattered about. 

Juno was ever worshiped as the ideal of wo- 
manly virtues. Many temples were erected to her 
honor, and her divine office as mother of gods 
entitled her to the greatest respect. 

Minerva (or Pallas Athene) is best known as 
the goddess of wisdom. She was the daughter of 
Jupiter, and the story of her birth is that she 
sprang full grown and armed from his head. 
Minerva, on account of her wisdom, was of great 
assistance to Jupiter and frequently sat at his side 
and helped him to dispose of the affairs of heaven 
and earth. In times of peace she was the instruct- 
ress of the world in wisdom, the arts, and handi- 
crafts. She invented the spindle and loom, the 
rake and the plow, and had much to do with per- 
fecting the practice of medicine. In times of 
war she was goddess of war, but it appears it was 
defensive warfare that she championed. As war- 
goddess she usually wears the helmet, shield, and 
spear. 

Minerva never married, rejecting the offers of 


11 


172 


STORIES OF CLASSIC MYTHS 


all her wooers. She fought on the side of Jupiter 
in his war with the Titans and giants, and became 
the patroness of all those heroes who fought 
against evil men and monsters. She was the con- 
stant companion of Hercules in his toilsome ad- 
ventures, and helped to protect the Argonauts in 
their quest of the Golden Fleece. 

Her most important shrine was the Parthenon. 
Indeed, the whole land of Greece was her special 
property. Here she was more honored than any 
other goddess, and to Athens, the cap*ital, she had 
given her own name. The most sacred emblem 
of her presence was the olive-tree on the Acropo- 
lis. Jupiter had decreed that whoever should 
create the most useful present should have the 
sovereignty of Greece. Neptune, in the contest, 
created the horse; but Minerva, with superior 
wisdom, created the olive-tree, and the prize was 
given to her, for the olive-tree formed the chief 
wealth of the country. The story is told that 
when Athens was threatened by the Persian 
army, Minerva besought Jupiter to prevent the 
fall of the city. This was not to be, and Athens 
was burned by the Persians. But when the sa- 
cred olive-tree was burned, a fresh shoot sprang 
from the stalk, a token that the city was to be 




HEAD FKUM HIE l E^Ml'LE OF HEKA, NEAR ARGUS 






CLASSIC MYTHS 


175 

rebuilt, as it was, more beautiful than ever 
before. 

Mars (or Ares) was the son of Jupiter and 
Juno, and, although not worshiped in Greece as 
extensively as most of the great gods of heaven, 
he was ardently worshiped in Rome. He is 
best known as god of war. He delighted in 
the din of battle and never wearied of strife 
and slaughter. Clad in brazen armor from 
head to foot with waving plume, helmet, and 
spear, his bulFs-hide over his left arm, he ranged 
the field of battle and destroyed all before him. 
His usual attendants and servants are Fear and 
Terror, and some writers add Discord, Alarm, 
and Dread. 

One reason for the great veneration in which 
Mars was held in Rome was the belief that he was 
the father of Romulus and Remus. The mother 
of these two children was condemned to ’be buried 
alive, and they were left naked and exposed to the 
elements. But, being nourished by a she-wolf, 
they grew up to be strong and healthy. Romulus 
founded the city of Rome and was its first king. 
No wonder that Mars was worshiped by the Ro- 
mans as the most important of all the gods 
except Jupiter. 


176 


STORIES OF CLASSIC MYTHS 


There is a story that once, when King Numa 
raised his hands in prayer to Jove asking his 
blessing on the infant state of Rome, the god, as 
a mark of favor, let fall from heaven an oblong 
brazen shield. At the same time a voice was 
heard saying that Rome should endure as long as 
the shield should be preserved. Numa, who rec- 
ognized the shield as that of Mars, ordered that 
it be kept forever sacred. He caused artists to 
make eleven other shields exactly like the one 
that fell from heaven, and instituted a great col- 
lege for their care. March was the month sacred 
to Mars, because at this time spring triumphs 
over winter, and in the month of March the fes- 
tival of Mars was held at which these sacred 
shields were carried in great processions, and 
amidst war-dances and rejoicings the people 
cried, “Mars, watch over us 

The ancient artists represent Mars as a power- 
ful young man with curly hair, and his usual 
attributes are the helmet, the shield, and the 
spear. Although not as devoted to family life 
as many of the gods, he was the father of Cupid, 
and the little love-god is usually represented 
playing about his knees. 

Vulcan (or Hephaestus) was the son of Jupiter 


CLASSIC MYTHS 


177 


and Juno and the god of the fire and the forge. 
Vulcan was not on very good terms with the other 
gods. It is said that when he was quite young 
Jupiter and Juno were engaged in one of their 
quarrels, when Vulcan strenuously took the part 
of his mother. For this Jupiter lifted him up 
and flung him down from Olympus. 

From morn 

To noon he fell, from noon to dewy eve, 

A summer’s day; and with the setting sun 
Dropt from the zenith like a falling star. 

On Lemnos, th’ ^gean isle. 

Finding himself on the island of Lemnos, much 
lamed from his fall, he had no way but to remain 
there and recover. The half-civilized people at- 
tended him carefully, but it was many years 
before he could get away. 

Another story is that it was Juno instead of 
Jupiter who cast Vulcan out of heaven, and that 
she did it because she was ashamed of his stature 
and lameness. In this story he does not land on 
Lemnos but in the sea, and there he was tenderly 
cared for by the sea-gods. While here he fash- 
ioned a golden throne with invisible bonds and 
presented it to Juno, in order to regain her favor. 


178 


STORIES OF CLASSIC MYTHS 


Juno joyfully accepted it, but as soon as she sat 
upon it she found that she was held fast, and even 
Jupiter could not release her. When Vulcan had 
obtained her forgiveness she was released and 
after that they agreed better. 

Vulcan is accredited with having been the cre- 
ator of the first mortal woman. Pandora, but 
all the gods contributed something to this cre- 
ation. Pandora was given a precious box which 
she was forbidden to open, but, overcome by curi- 
osity to know what it contained, she one day lifted 
the cover and looked in. Forthwith escaped a 
multitude of plagues for hapless man — gout, 
rheumatism, and colic for his body; envy, spite, 
and revenge for his mind : and these’ things scat- 
tered themselves far and wide. As Pandora 
hastily shut the lid, one thing only remained in 
the casket — hope. 

Vulcan, presiding over the forge, made many 
useful things. He forged the shield of Achilles, 
he made the chariot of the sun, the trident of 
Neptune, and implements and tools of all kinds 
useful to man. His workmen and companions 
were artists, and he is specially reverenced by 
artists and artisans. As god of fire, his aid was 
sought against conflagrations and his worship 


CLASSIC MYTHS 


179 


was very general. He was represented as a pow- 
erful bearded man, his lameness being indicated 
by the shortness of his left leg. His attributes 
were the tools of the smith, the workman’s cap, 
and the short apron or garment of the craftsman. 

Apollo (or Appollon) was the glorious god of 
light, not only of the sun, but of everything beau- 
tiful and noble. He was the son of Jupiter and 
Latona, and he sulfered from the jealousy of 
Juno. His name, Phoebus Apollo, indicates his 
character. But physical light is an emblem of 
inner light, — the light of knowledge, truth, and 
purity. The rays of the sun were called his ar- 
rows, and he was spoken of as far-darting 
Apollo. Each new moon was a festival of 
Apollo. His power was noticed as soon as peo- 
ple stepped out of the house, for the houses of the 
Greeks were dark and provided with only small 
openings for windows. 

The famous statue of Apollo, called the Belve- 
dere, represents the god as very beautiful. To 
this Byron alludes in Childe Harold: 

The Lord of the unerring bow. 

The God of life, and poesy, and light— 

The Sun in human limbs arrayed, and brow 
All radiant from his triumph in the fight. 


i8o STORIES OF CLASSIC MYTHS 

The fight referred to was the famous slaying 
of the terrible Python, a serpent that trailed in 
the slime of swamps and killed many. In this 
we detect the allegory of the sun drying up by its 
heat the deadly malarial marshes. 

There are many beautiful stories about the ad- 
ventures of Apollo. One day he saw Cupid play- 
ing with bow and arrows. Elated by his recent 
victory over the Python, Apollo said to Cupid that 
such weapons were not much in comparison with 
his own. Cupid replied, ''Your arrows may strike 
all things else, Apollo, but mine shall strike you.’’ 
So saying, he took two arrows from his quiver, 
one to excite love, the other to repel it. With one 
he struck Apollo through the heart, with the other 
Daphne. Apollo immediately loved her, but she 
was seized with a strong aversion toward him. 
He pursued her over hill and dale until it was evi- 
dent he was gaining ground. Then Daphne 
prayed to be changed into a tree. Scarcely was 
the prayer uttered when stiffness seized her 
limbs, her bosom was inclosed in tender bark, 
her feet stuck fast in the ground, and her face 
became as a tree-top. Apollo stood amazed, say- 
ing, "I will wear you for my crown and, as eter- 


CLASSIC MYTHS 


i8i 


nal youth is mine, you shall be ever green, and 
your leaf know no decay/' So the nymph was 
changed into a laurel-tree. 

I espouse thee for my tree : 

Be thou the prize of honor and renown; 

The deathless poet, and the poem, crown; 
Thou shalt the Roman festivals adorn, 

And, after poets, be by victor worn. 

Ovid. 

Another story of Apollo relates to the death of 
Hyacynthus, a beautiful youth whom he visited. 
They were engaged in a game of quoits, when one 
of Apollo's quoits, guided aside by a jealous 
enemy, struck the boy and threw him to the 
ground. Apollo could not save his life, but there 
where he died grew up clusters of flowers that 
ever since have been called hyacinths. 

The legend of Apollo's sojourn among the Hy- 
perboreans was founded on the yearly variation 
of the sun. As the sun bends to the northward 
in winter, so it was believed that in winter Apollo 
went to dwell with the Hyperboreans, a pious peo- 
ple resembling the early races of men. There 
was never a cloud in their sky, and Apollo lived 
with them as a father with his children. There, 


STORIES OF CLASSIC MYTHS 


182 

his mother and sister with him, he spent three 
months each winter, returning in the spring to 
Delphi. 

Delphi was the most important place for the 
worship of Apollo, and there a gorgeous temple 
was consecrated to his worship. Its wealth from 
offerings became so great that their value was 
computed at more than ten million dollars. His 
shrine at Delos was little less renowned. The 
whole island was sacred to Apollo, and both here 
and at Delphi games were held in his honor. 

Apollo always retains a youthful appearance 
and is always beardless. His figure is strong and 
handsome, his face majestic but cheerfully se- 
rene. His attributes were the bow, arrows and 
quiver, and the laurel crown and lyre. 

Diana (or Artemis), twin sister of Apollo and 
daughter of Jupiter and Latona, was the symbol 
of the moon and night, as Apollo was originally 
of the sun and day. She was believed to range at 
nights through forest, mountain, and valley, with 
nymphs of the springs and groves in her train, 
she herself excelling them all in beauty and stat- 
ure. She was worshiped at springs and near 
rivers as the patroness of music and goddess 
of fertility. As the light of the moon is an em- 


CLASSIC MYTHS 


183 


blem of purity, Diana was thought of as a fair, 
fresh maiden. As a huntress she became guar- 
dian of wild animals in the woods and fields. 
She guards, as Browning says: 

• Every feathered mother’s callow brood, 

And all that love green haunts and loneliness. 

While very young Diana sought and obtained 
from her father permission to always remain 
single, but in spite of her usual coldness and in- 
difference there are several stories that show 
how her heart was sometimes touched. 

Endymion was a beautiful youth who fed his 
flocks on a mountain side. One clear night as 
Diana, the Moon, looked down she saw him 
sleeping. 

How the pale Phoebe, hunting in a grove, 

Eirst saw the boy Endymion, from whose eyes 
She took eternal fire that never dies. 

Fletcher. 

She thought him so very beautiful that she 
stepped from her golden car out of the low-hung 
moon and watched over him while he slept. To 
Endymion it was only a vision, but she came again 
and again, and so he came to watch for her in his 


i 84 stories of CLASSIC MYTHS 

sleep. Diana took care of his flocks while he 
rested, and guarded his lambs from wild beasts. 
Jupiter granted to Endymion perpetual youth to- 
gether with perpetual sleep, and Diana carried 
him away to a cave in the mountains where she 
continued to love him. He has been a favorite 
subject for poets and sculptors. 

Another story that is told of Diana is her en- 
counter with Actseon. There was a valley 
thickly inclosed with cypresses and pines which 
was sacred to Diana. In the extremity of it 
was a cave where the goddess used to come when 
weary with hunting to bathe in the sparkling 
water. Now Actseon, a son of King Cadmus, 
was fond of hunting the stag, and one day at 
noon, while resting from the hunt, he wandered 
from his companions. Led by his evil destiny, 
he came to the pool where Diana was bathing. 
Indignant at being thus surprised she dashed the 
water into his face, saying, “Now go and tell, if 
you can, that you have seen Diana bathing.’’ 
Immediately a branching pair of horns grew out 
of his head, his neck became longer, his ears 
grew sharp-pointed, his hands became feet, and 
in short he was changed into a stag, except that 
he retained his consciousness as a man. As he 


CLASSIC MYTHS 


185 

bounded off through the forest, alas ! he saw that 
his own pack was on his trail, and though he 
could not speak, he knew that he would be torn 
to pieces, for nothing less than this would satisfy 
chaste Diana. 

Many statues and paintings were made of 
Diana, the chaste huntress, and many great tem- 
ples were erected for her worship. 

Venus (or Aphrodite), goddess of love and 
beauty, is represented as the daughter of Jupiter 
and Dione, but is said by some to have arisen 
from the foam of the sea and to have first 
touched land on the island of Cyrus, which was 
ever after held sacred to her. Wafted by the 
western wind she floated upon the island like a 
dream. The goddesses of the seasons were there 
to welcome her, and as she stepped upon the 
shore plants and flowers rose newly from the 
soil, budded and blossomed. Her beauty con- 
quered every heart, and even the wild beasts 
were quieted and played about her like lambs. 
With numerous attendants she went to high 
Olympus, where she was received with the great- 
est favor. All the gods wanted her for a wife, 
and throughout her life her beauty was the 
cause of many adventures. Mars was most fa- 


i86' STORIES OF CLASSIC MYTHS 

vored by her, and the beautiful Cupid was their 
son. 

Cupid, unlike most of the gods, did not grow 
up but remained the mischievous rosy child we 
so often see pictured. At times, however, he is 
represented as a slender youth just verging on 
manhood, and it is thus we see him in the adven- 
ture with Psyche. Psyche was the daughter of 
a prince of the island of Crete and was possessed 
of such great beauty that she was admired even 
more than Venus. In order to be revenged upon 
her, Venus sent Cupid to punish her by causing 
her to fall in love with some horrid monster. 
Whomever Cupid pierced with one of his arrows 
was doomed to fall in love, and obedient to his 
mother’s command he started on his mission. He 

Had still no thought but to do all her will 

Nor cared to think if it were good or ill : 

So, beautiful and pitiless, he went. 

Stealthily he entered the palace and reached 
the chamber where Psyche was sleeping, but 
when he saw her, instead of wishing to harm her, 
he fell in love with her. 

In the meantime Psyche’s father had been ad- 



A reduced coJ>y in marble of the chryselephantine statue of Athe)ia Parthenos by Phidias 


ATHENE OR MINERVA 



CLASSIC MYTHS 


189 

vised by an oracle to dress his daughter in 
mourning garments and carry her to the top of a 
precipice where she should become the wife of a 
winged dragon. Some accounts say that he pre- 
pared to carry this out, while others say that 
Psyche herself, feeling the displeasure of Venus, 
because of the love of Cupid, went there to jump 
into the unknown. As soon as she was alone 
upon the lofty rock a cloud came along and, 
wafted by a zephyr, carried her far away to a 
beautiful castle. Here, as night came, she was 
again visited by Cupid, but as it was dark she 
could not see him. He warned her that she must 
not ask his name or all their joy would come to 
an end. For a long time she was faithful to the 
injunction, and night after night he came to stay 
at the castle and they loved each other very truly. 
But once when Psyche’s sisters came to visit her 
they could not restrain their curiosity and wished 
to know who the mysterious lover was. Some 
say they persuaded Psyche that he must be a 
monster if he would not allow himself to be seen. 
They finally persuaded her to steal to his couch 
with a lamp, and so startled was she to see that 
it was Cupid that she let fall a drop of the hot 


iQO STORIES OF CLASSIC MYTHS 

oil upon his naked shoulder. Cupid awoke and 
bitterly rebuked her for her disobedience, and 
flying away through the window exclaimed: 

“Farewell ! There is no Love except with Faith, 
And thine is dead ! Farewell ! I come no more 

Poor Psyche was grief-stricken and wandered 
about the earth forlornly, asking all whom she met 
if they had seen Cupid. Finally she reached the 
palace of Venus herself, who imposed the labors 
of a slave upon her, all of which Psyche patiently 
bore. At last she demanded that Psyche go to 
Hades, the realm of shades, and fetch back a 
casket of ointment from Prosperine. Even this 
the penitent Psyche undertook, but on her way 
back she opened the casket and was stricken 
down by the terrible fumes that arose from it. 

Through all her labors and sorrows Cupid 
had been secretly at her side, and when he saw 
this final catastrophe he could endure it no 
longer. He bent lovingly over her, brought her 
back to life with a kiss, and then carrying her to 
Olympus demanded of all the deities that he be 
allowed to marry her. Even Venus was then 
forced to forgive her rival, and welcomed the 
blushing bride to the happy realms. 


CLASSIC MYTHS 


191 


One of the many, many events in the life of 
Venus was the Judgment of Paris. At a wed- 
ding to which all had been invited except Dis- 
cord, she, enraged at her exclusion, threw a 
golden apple among the guests, with the inscrip- 
tion, '‘For the fairest.’' Thereupon Juno, Ve- 
nus, and Minerva each claimed the apple. Not 
willing to give a decision himself, Jupiter sent 
them all to Mount Ida, where Paris, son of 
Priam, King of Troy, was to be the judge. Juno 
promised him great wealth and power, Minerva 
promised him glory and renown in war, and 
Venus promised him the fairest of women for a 
wife, each hoping thus to gain the decision. 
Paris decided in favor of Venus. As Helen of 
Troy was considered the fairest of mortal wo- 
men, Venus set out to bring about the match as 
she had promised, and this was the cause of the 
Trojan war. 

As a subject for artists, Venus, the most beau- 
tiful of goddesses, naturally occupies a leading 
place. To give expression to the most perfect 
beauty arrayed in all the charms of love is a con- 
tinual spur to artists. The Venus of Milo, now 
in the Louvre, and the Venus formerly in the 
Villa Medici at Rome are the best known statues. 


192 


STORIES OF CLASSIC MYTHS 


The worship of Venus was wide-spread. Her 
birth from the sea endeared her to sailors, and 
she was regarded as goddess of spring as well as 
of love and beauty, and her festival was cele- 
brated in April. The dove, the sparrow, and 
the dolphin, and among plants, the rose, the 
apple, the poppy, and the lime-tree, were sacred 
to her. 

Mercury (or Hermes), the son of Jupiter and 
Maia, started in as the black sheep or bad boy of 
the celestial family. It is said that he was born 
during the darkness of night in a cave of the 
mountains and that he began his mischievous ca- 
reer that very same night. Slipping out of the 
cave where he was supposed to be soundly sleep- 
ing, he found a fine herd of cattle grazing. 
These cattle belonged to his brother Apollo, but 
Mercury decided to steal a number of them. 
After driving them to a cave and secreting them 
so that, the next day, Apollo could not find them, 
he went quietly back to his cradle. But some one 
had seen the escapade and informed Apollo, who 
forthwith dragged him to the throne of Jupiter 
for judgment and punishment. Mercury mean- 
time had done another thing remarkable in a 
babe one day old. Seeing a tortoise, he had con- 


CLASSIC MYTHS 


193 


ceived the idea of making holes in the edges of 
the shell and of forming a lyre by stretching 
strings across. This made a fine instrument, 
and when accused of his crime of stealing the 
cattle he began playing his lyre. This so pleased 
Jupiter that it did not look as though the punish- 
ment would be very severe, and when Mercury 
offered his lyre to Apollo, all was forgiven, and 
Mercury became a great favorite in heaven. 
Apollo became devoted to the lyre and to music, 
while Mercury, having invented a shepherd’s 
pipe for himself, became the special god of shep- 
herds and pastures. 

Mercury, being chosen as a messenger to Jupi- 
ter, was necessarily trusted and used by him in 
all of his many adventures which he wished to 
keep secret from Juno. 

He is usually represented as a beautiful youth 
with wings on his feet and on his cap, carrying 
a herald’s staff and a purse. He was worshiped 
as the god of trade and as the god who presides 
over the bringing up of children. He was fleet- 
est of runners, most skilful of boxers, and 
though not intellectual like Apollo, he had good 
common sense. 

Vesta (or Hestia) is not mentioned often by 


194 


STORIES OF CLASSIC MYTHS 


the poets and her name does not occur either in 
the Iliad or the Odyssey. Yet her worship was 
very general and she was one of the great god- 
desses of Olympia. She was the guardian angel 
of mankind, 'looked after the safety of the dwell- 
ing and was regarded as the goddess of the fam- 
ily hearth. 

The hearth had a higher meaning among the 
ancients than it does with us. It was not only 
the place where the daily meals were prepared, 
but it was the family altar as well: there were 
placed the images of the special household gods, 
and there the father, who was also the priest of 
the family, offered sacrifices upon important 
family events. These household gods were the 
Lares and Penates, that is, the friendly guardians 
of the family. They loved the family and dwelt 
unseen upon the hearth. 

The most ancient temple of Vesta, supposed to 
have been built by Numa Pompilius, was situ- 
ated on the slope of the Palatine hill, opposite 
the Forum in Rome. It was built in a circle and 
was of moderate dimensions. 

In this temple the eternal fire, the emblem of 
the state, which must be perpetual, was kept 
burning. Vesta would never marry, although 


CLASSIC MYTHS 


195 


wooed by Apollo and other gods, and this service 
of keeping alive the eternal fire was therefore 
performed only by virgins, known as the vestal 
virgins. At first there were four, but afterward 
six. If the fire should become extinguished even 
for a moment, it was believed that terrible mis- 
fortunes would fall upon Rome. The service of 
a vestal was a severe but coveted ordeal, and the 
maidens were selected from the noblest Roman 
families at the age of from six to ten years and 
served for thirty years. 

As the kindly protecting household goddess, 
the provider of daily bread and daily needs, and 
chaste and pure in character, Vesta was at every 
feast worshiped first of all the gods. From her 
altar all the other gods obtained their fires. As 
represented by artists her countenance is charac- 
terized by a thoughtful gravity of expression. 
Her principal attributes consist of the votive 
bowl, the torch, the small cup, and the scepter. 













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